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THE 



MOMRCHS 



AND THB 



PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 

€linr CnnMtinn, EnnurtBS; nn^ Ittitnh mitji 



OOMPfilSINO 

A REVIEW OF THE RECENT REVOLUTIONS AND THE 
PRESENT STATE OF EACH COUNTRY. 



By JOHN frost, LL.D. 

AUTHOR OF "PICTORIAL BISTORT OF THE UNITED STATES," " MVKS OF THE AMERICAN GENERALS,' 
" HISTORIC." ,L COLLECTIONS OF ALL NATIONS," ETC. 



WITH NUMEROUS EMBELLISHMENTS. 




HARTFORD. 

PUBLISHED BY O. D. CASE & CO. 
1853. 



£90( 



Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1852, by 
0. D. CASE & CO. 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of 
Connecticut. 



STEREOTTPED BY L. JOHNSON & CO. 
PHILADELPHIA. 




1 396N 

2cJUL 1953 



NEW YORK, N. Y, 



LIBRARY 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

The State of Europe at the Commenx'ement of 1848 9 

CHAPTER II. 
The French Retolution- of 1848 23 

CHAPTER III. 
The Italian Revolutions 93 

CHAPTER IV. 
Revolutions in Germany and Poland 131 

CHAPTER V. 
Popular Outbreaks in Vienna and Bohemia 166 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Revolution in Hungary 185 

CHAPTER VII. 
Liberal Movements in Great Britain 294 

CHAPTER VIII. 
French Movements — From the Siege of Rome to President Bo- 
naparte's Coup D'Etat 300 

CHAPTER IX. 

Affairs in Spain — Attempt to Assassinate the Queen 318 

CHAPTER X. 

The Present Attitude of the Kings and People of Europe 322 

7 



8 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XI. 

PAGE 

TuE People of Europe — Their Countries, Classes, Customs, and 
Institutions: — 

Russia 350 

Sweden and Norway 376 

Denmark 381 

The Austrian Empire 382 

Turkey 417 

Greece 438 

The Ionian Islands 445 

Italy 447 

San Marino 473 

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies 473 

Tuscany 486 

The Kingdom of Sardinia 490 

The Duchy of Parma 498 

The Duchy of Modena 499 

Switzerland 500 

Prussia .*. 520 

Germany 536 

The Kingdom of the Netherlands 557 

Belgium 561 

Spain 563 

Portugal 568 

France 573 

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 584 




Louis Philippe. 



THE 



MOMRCHS AND PEOPLE OF EUROPE. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE STATE OF EUROPE AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF 1848. 

The year 1848 was probably the most eventful and exciting 
since the period of Borodino and Moscow. The number and 
importance of its political changes, the violent shock which it 
gave to the framework of European society, and the singular 
ebb and flow of opinion and success among the two great 
parties of the continent, press it upon the mind for attentive 
study. Never was there a year so pregnant with instruc- 
tion and with warning — so rich in all the materials of wisdom 
both for sovereigns and for people — so crowded with wrecks and 
ruins, with the ruins of ancient grandeur, and the wrecks of glo- 
rious anticipations — so filled with splendid promises and paltry 

9 



10 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF -EUROPE. 



realizations, with hopes brilliant and fantastic as fairy-land, 
with disappointments dismal and bitter as the grave. 
Thrones, which but yesterday had seemed based upon the 
everlasting hills, shattered in a day ; sovereigns whose wisdom 
had become a proverb, and sovereigns whose imbecility had 
been notorious, alike flying from their capitals, and abdicat- 
ing without a natural murmur or a gallant struggle ; rulers, 
who had long been the embodiment of obstinate resistance to 
all popular demands, vying with each other in the prompti- 
tude and the extent of their concessions ; statesmen of the 
longest experience, the deepest insight, the acutest talent — 
statesmen like Metternich and Guizot— baffled, beaten, and 
chased away, and reaching their foreign banishment only to 
turn and gaze with a melancholy and bewildered air on the over- 
throw of schemes and systems of policy, the construction of 
which had been the labour of a lifetime ; eminent men sinking 
into obscurity, and going out like snuif ; obscure men rising 
at one bound into eminence and power ; ambitious men find- 
ing the objects of their wildest hopes suddenly placed Avithin 
their grasp ; Utopian dreamers staggered and intoxicated by 
seeing their most gorgeous visions on the point of realization ; 
patriots beholding the sudden and miraculous advent of that 
liberty which they had prayed for, fought for, sufiered for, 
through years of imprisonment, poverty, and exile ; nations, 
which had long pined in darkness, dazzled and bewildered .by 
the blaze of instantaneous light ; the powerful smitten with 
impotence; the peasant and the bondsman endowed with 
freedom and unresisted might; the first last and the last 
first ; — such were the strange phenomena of that marvellous 
era, which took away the breath of the beholder, which the 
journalist was unable to keep pace with, and " which panting 
Time toiled after in vain." 

The year opened with apparent tranquillity. In two quar- 
ters only of Europe had there been any indications of the 
coming earthquake ; and to both of these the eyes of all 
friends of freedom were turned with hopeful interest and 
earnest sympathy. The first dawn of a new day had 



THE STATE OF EUROPE. 11 



arisen in a country where least of all it could have been 
looked for — in Rome. There, in a state long renowned for 
the most corrupt, imbecile, mischievous administration of the 
western world, a new Pope, in the prime of life, full of re- 
spect for his sacred office, and deeply impressed with the 
solemn responsibilities of his high position, set himself with se- 
rious purpose and a single mind, though with limited views and 
inadequate capacities, to the task of cleansing those Augean 
stables from the accumulated filth of centuries. He com- 
menced reform — where reform, though most rare, is always 
the most safe — from above; he purified the grosser parts of 
the old administrative system; he showed an active deter- 
mination to put down all abuse, and to give his people the 
benefit of a really honest government ; he ventured on the 
bold innovation, in itself a mighty boon and a strange pro- 
gress, of appointing laymen to offices of state ; and, finally, 
he convoked a representative assembly, and gave the Romans 
a constitution — the first they had seen since the days of 
Rienzi. His people were, as might have been anticipated, 
warmly grateful for the gifts, and enthusiastically attached 
to the person of their excellent pontifi"; all Europe looked 
on with delight ; Pio Nono was the hero of the day ; and 
every thing seemed so safe, so wise, so happy, that we felt 
justified in hoping that a new day had really dawned upon 
the ancient capital of the world. 

Sicily, too, had about the same time entered upon a struggle 
to recover some portion of her promised freedom and her 
stolen rights. Her Avrongs had been so flagrant, so manifold, 
so monstrous ; the despotism under which she groaned was 
at once so incapable, so mean, so low, so brutal ; her condi- 
tion was so Avretched, and her capabilities so vast, that the 
sympathies of the world went with her in her struggle with 
her false and bad oppressor. All ranks of her citizens were 
unanimous in their resolution of resistance ; even the priests, 
elsewhere the ready tools of tyranny, here fought on the side 
of the people, and blessed the arms and banners of the re- 
formers ; and, what was still more remarkable, and of more 



12 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPE. 



hopeful augury, all classes seemed to put ^mutual jealousies 
aside, and to be actuated by the same spirit of sincere, self- 
denying, self-sacrificing patriotism. Their demands were 
moderate but firm, and so reasonable, that the mere fact of 
such demands having to be made was an indelible disgrace to 
Naples. So far, too, their course had been singularly cau- 
tious ; they had committed no blunder, they' had displayed no 
sanguinary passion, and no violent excitement, and it was 
impossible not to hope every thing from a contest so wisely 
conducted, and so unimpeachably just. At length, on the 
8th of February, the Sicilians having been everywhere vic- 
torious, the preliminaries of an arrangement with the King 
of Naples were agreed to, on the basis of the constitution of 
1812.* 

Meanwhile, spurred or warned by the example of the pope 
and the enthusiasm of the Romans, other Italian princes 
bowed to the feeling of the time, and took some steps in the 
path of reform. The King of Sardinia, the Grand-duke of 
Tuscany, and the King of Naples, promised constitutions, 
written and precise, to their subjects, and actually adopted 
measures for making their promises efiective. The popular 
enthusiasm reached Lombardy. Movements took place at 
Milan, but they were crushed by the Austrian government 
with even more than wonted promptitude and severity. 
Bayonets and discipline proved too much for unguided zeal. 

For some years, Hungary had been making great strides 
toward national reform, under the influence of the eloquent 
statesmen, Wesselenyi and Kossuth. The Hungarians 
claimed to have a constitution nine centuries of age, and 
upon it sought to found their national independence. They 
also strove to free themselves from the weight of feudal 
privileges. In the emancipation of the peasantry, the no- 
bility generally evinced a liberal and patriotic spirit. Their 
conduct is unparalleled in the history of feudal countries. 
Austria exerted herself to silence all expression of the liberal 

* North British Review. 



THE STATE OF EUROPE. 13 



independent opinions of the Hungarians. It was evident 
that open rupture was at hand. 

The condition of things in Germany and Italy, as well as 
in France and England, when the great shock occurred, may 
be thus delineated : — In all four countries there was much 
suffering and much discontent ; but the malecontents and the 
sufferers belonged to different classes in society. In England 
and in France the lower orders were the chief malecontents ; 
and unquestionably, especially in the latter country, they had 
much to complain of, and much to endure. Difficulty of ob- 
taining subsistence, actual and severe privation in the present, 
and no more hopeful prospects for the future, darkened the 
lot and soured the temper of hundreds of thousands of the 
people. The more fortunate saw little before them beyond 
strenuous and' ceaseless toil, from early morning till late 
evening, from precocious childhood to premature decrepitude. 
The less fortunate often sought toil in vain, dug for it as for 
hidden treasm-e, and found it, when obtained, uncertain and 
unremunerative. A class — often a very numerous class — had 
grown up among them, whom defective social arrangements 
had left without any means of subsistence, beyond habitual 
crime and the godsend of occasional insurrection. 

Nearly all of these were more or less uneducated, with 
passions unsoftened by culture, and appetites sharpened by 
privation — excitable, undisciplined, and brutal. Such were 
always ready for any social or political convulsion — prompt 
to aid and aggravate it, certain to complicate and disgrace 
it. It is a fearful addition to the perplexities and horrors 
of a revolution when the mass of the nation are destitute and 
wretched. Germany and Italy were in a singular measure 
free from this element of confusion ; and in so far their path 
was wonderfully clear and easy. In Germany, the orderly, 
industrious, and simple habits of the peasantry ; the general 
possession of land by the rm-al portion of them, especially 
in the Prussian provinces ; the relics of the old distribution 
of artisans into guilds ; the watchful care of the numberless 
bureaucratic governments to prevent the too rapid increase 



14 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. 



of this, or indeed of any class ; the systematic care of Aus- 
tria, especially to keep the lower classes in a state of mate- 
rial comfort ; the habit in some states, as Bavaria, of re- 
quiring a certificate of property as a preliminary to mar- 
riage — had combined to prevent poverty, except in rare cases, 
from degenerating into destitution, so that there was, gene- 
rally speaking, little physical distress or suffering among the 
mass. The diffusion of elementary education too, (such as 
it was, for we are no amateurs of the continental system in 
such matters,) prevented the existence of such utterly savage 
and ignorant masses as were to be met with in France, and 
unhappily in England also. The same exemption from squalid 
misery which in Germany was due to care, system, and cul- 
ture, was bestowed upon the Italians by their genial climate, 
their fertile soil, and their temperate and frugal habits, so 
that though there was often poverty — though poverty, and, 
as we in America should regard it, poverty of the extremest 
kind, was frequent, and in Rome and Naples almost universal 
— still, that actual want of the bread of to-day, and that 
anxiety for the bread of to-morrow, which make men ready 
for any violence or commotion, were in the greater part of 
Italy comparatively rare. In Tuscany and Lombardy, more 
especially, . the utterly destitute and starving were a class 
quite unknown. 

In both countries, therefore, the discontented and aspiring 
class — the makers of revolutions — were the educated and the 
well to-do ; men whose moral, not whose material, wants were 
starved and denied by the existing system ; men of the middle 
ranks, who found their free action impeded at every step, 
whose noblest instincts were relentlessly crushed, whose in- 
tellectual cravings were famished by the censorship, and 
whose hungry and avid minds were compelled daily to sit 
down to a meal of miserable and unrelished pottage ; men 
of the upper classes, whose ambition was cramped into the 
pettiest sphere, and forced into the narrowest channels, to 
whom every career worthy of their energies and their patriot- 
ism was despotically closed, who were compelled to waste 



THE STATE OF EUROPE. 15 



their life and fritter away their powers in the insipid plea- 
sures of a spiritless society, in metaphysical speculation, or 
antiquarian research. Hence, with all its faults, the revolu- 
tion in Germany and in Italy had a far nobler origin, and a 
loftier character than that of France ; it was the revolt not 
of starved stomachs, but of famished souls ; it was the pro- 
test of human beings against a tyranny by which the noblest 
attributes of humanity were affronted and suppressed ; it was 
the recoil from a listless and unsatisfying life by men who 
felt that they were made for, and competent to, a worthier 
existence ; it was a rebellion of hearts who loved their coun- 
try, against a system by which that country was dishonoured, 
and its development impeded; it was not the work of pas- 
sionate, personal, and party aims, but of men who, however 
wild their enthusiasm, however deplorable their blunders, 
still set before them a lofty purpose, and worshipped a high 
ideal. 

The mouvement party (to borrow an expressive phrase from 
the French) is composed in different countries of character- 
istically different materials. The busy ex-parliamentary re- 
formers; the radicals, who take one grievance or anomaly 
after another, and agitate and grumble till they have pro- 
cured its abolition ; who have either originated or been the 
means of carrying each successive measure of reform, are in 
England almost exclusively composed of the active and prac- 
tical men of the middle classes — merchants and manufactu- 
rers, educated enough to be able to comprehend the whole 
bearings of the case, but distrusting theory, eschewing ab- 
stractions, and too well trained in the actual business of life 
to be in much danger from disproportionate enthusiasm ; 
shopkeepers and tradesmen, not perhaps masters of the po- 
litical importance or full scope of the question at issue, but 
quick to detect its bearing on their personal interests, bring- 
ing to its examination a strong, if a somewhat narrow, com- 
mon sense, observing a due proportion between their means 
and their ends, and never, in the heat of contest, losing sight 
of the main chance : — these constitute the centre and the 



16 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. 



leaders of the movement party in England, and have im- 
parted to all their innovations that character for distinctness 
of purpose, sobriety of aim, and practicality of result, which 
has always marked them. In France the mouvement party 
has been composed of the politicians by profession or by 
taste ; of the amateurs and adventurers of public life ; of 
journalists, who had each their pet crotchet and their special 
watchword, and who attained in that country a degree of 
personal influence which is without parallel elsewhere; of 
men to whom the Republic was a passion ; of men to whom 
it was a dream ; of men to whom it opened a vista rich in 
visions of pillage and of pleasure. It was a vast heteroge- 
neous congeries of all the impatient suffering, of all the fer- 
menting discontent, of all the unchained and disreputd-ble 
passions, of all the low, and of all the lofty ambition of the 
community. In Germany, again, the mouvement party was 
composed, in overwhelming proportion, of the BurschenscTiaft 
— of students and professors, of young dreamers and their 
dreaming guides — men qualified beyond all others to conceive 
and describe a glorious Utopia, but disqualified beyond all 
others to embody it in actual life. It is curious to observe 
how everywhere throughout the German revolutions, the col- 
legians were prominent. The students led the struggle at 
Berlin ; the Academic Legion was for some time the ruling 
body at Vienna ; the Frankfort Assembly was, as has been 
characterized, " an anarchy of professors." We do not mean 
to say, that the revolutionary movement was not joined and 
sympathized with by numbers in all ranks and classes — 
though it is important to observe, that, from the peculiar 
system of educational training in Germany, all these had 
gone through the same discipline, and been subject to the 
same influences ; but the tone of the movement was given, 
its course directed, and its limit decided, by learned men, 
whom a life of university seclusion and theoretic studies had 
precluded from the possession of all practical experience, and 
by young men fresh from the scenes and the heroes of classic 
times, and glowing with that wild enthusiasm, that passionate 



THE STATE OF EUROPE. 17 



but unchastcnefl patriotism, those visions of an earthly Eden 
and a golden age, and that unreasoning devotion to every 
thing that bears the name or usurps the semblance of liberty, 
which at their age it would be grievous not to find. Finally, 
in Italy, the leaders of the new Reformation were men of as 
pure and lofty enthusiasm, but of far finer capacities, and of 
a sterner and firmer make of mind, but equally imtrained in 
political administration, and with a task beyond their means ; 
— men, not indeed finished statesmen or accurate philoso- 
phers, because debarred from that education of action which 
alone can complete the training of the statesman and test 
the principles of the thinker — but of the materials out of 
which the noblest statesmen and the profoundest philosophers 
are made ; — many of them 

Of the canras vrliich men use 
To make storm stay-sails ; 

many of them exhibiting powers for government and war 
which need only a fairer field to obtain their full apprecia- 
tion. 

It is natural that political changes, emanating from bodies 
so variously constituted as these, should be widely different 
in their nature and objects, and be crowned with very various 
degrees of success. In Italy and Germany the patriots had 
one almost insuperable difficulty to contend with. In both 
countries the fatal system of bureaucracy had paralyzed the 
energies and dwarfed the political capacities of the people. 
In Germany they had been ruled like children — in Italy like 
victims or like vanquished slaves. But in both countries the 
whole province of administration, even in its lowest branches, 
had been confided to a separate class, set apart and trained 
to that profession, and directed and controlled from head- 
quarters. The people could do nothing except by official 
permission and under official supervision ; long disuse pro- 
duced inevitable disqualification ; long inaction inevitable in- 
capacity ; — till, when the crisis arrived, it appeared that the 
old established functionaries were the only men capable of 



18 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. 



practical action. When the power v,'as suddenly thrown into 
the hands of the inexperienced classes, none could be found 
among them — in Germany at least — competent to use it. In 
the south of Italy the old functionaries had always been so 
abominably bad, that even the most incompetent and fresh 
of the new aspirants could not possibly make worse adminis- 
trators. But in Germany the fact was as unquestionable as 
humiliating; and one of the most important lessons incul- 
cated by the time was the utter inadequacy of the best con- 
trived system of national or college education for supplying 
political training. The lower portion of the middle classes 
in Germany receive a far more complete and careful educa- 
tion in literary and scientific matters than the same portion 
in England, and in the instruction of the working-classes 
there is (or was lately) no comparison ; yet the municipal 
")0uncils, vestry meetings, boards of guardians, numberless 
voluntary associations, form normal schools for statesmen 
and administrators to which the continent presents no analo- 
gies, and for which unhappily it can furnish no substitutes, 
and the want of which was most deeply felt in 1848. 

Prior to the "year of revolutions," but one State in Ger- 
many possessed a free constitution, and that was Hesse 
Cassel. This written instrument was granted by the elector 
Frederick William, in January 1831, and it remained to the 
people in spite of the arts of that ruler, even through the 
struggles of despotism throughout Europe prior to 1847. 
The supremacy of law, and taxation by representatives of 
the people, alone were secured by this constitution. It was 
like a free breath of air in a close room. 

The condition of the people of France and the British 
isles before 1848, is better known and understood than the 
q,ffairs of the people of the rest of Europe. Louis Philippe 
had proved recreant to the principles of 1830. The press 
of France was gagged. The law of libel was executed with 
such severity as to prevent that freedom of speech for which 
the nation had so often striven. Public instruction was a 
monopoly secured to the University, that is, to the govern- 



THE STATE OF FA'l^OPE. 19 



ment, by one of the. earliest enactments of ministerial des- 
potism ; and the spirit in which the laAv Avas devised and ad- 
ministered was soon tested in the case of the Count de Mont- 
alcmbcrt, M, de Coux, and the Abbe Lacordaire, who were 
indicted and fined 100 francs for opening a free school in 
1831. Are those who sound M. Guizot's praises, and boast 
of Avhat he has done for the cause of education — are they 
aware that in 1844 one-half the inhabitants of France were 
unable to read or write ; that 7,000,000 could read imper- 
fectly, and could not write; that 7,000,000 couhl do both, but 
imperfectly; and that only 3,000,000 were fully educated ? 
This was no very grand result to be obtained by an annual 
expenditure of about ,£380,000. But another purpose was 
served by the system; if it kept the poor in ignorance, it 
enabled the government to mingle a large portion of error 
with the education given in the superior schools, and to keep 
in pay an army of placemen. Russia, the most backward in 
education of all quasi-civilized nations, has a very showy, 
extensive, and costly system of public instruction. 

The army of France was large, and under the control of 
the government. Bayonets maintained silence and crushed 
all attempts at insurrection. The working-classes groaned 
under the load of taxation. In spite of their hard and wear- 
ing toil, they were threatened with starvation. To people in 
such a condition, death, the worst thing to be feared from 
attempts at insurrection, ceased to be terrible. They eagerly 
listened to socialist and communist theories, which were 
enthusiastically advocated by Prudhomme and others, and 
secretly formed clubs for the discussion of the means of 
obtaining their rights. They even ventured to hold "reform 
banquets," at Avhich the republican leaders of 1789 were 
toasted, eulogized, and held up as examples worthy of imita- 
tion. The measures of the firm and keen Guizot, the real 
head of the government, proved ineffectual ; these demon- 
strations could not be repressed. The opposition in the 
Deputies daily grew in numbers and boldness of speech. 
Thiers, Lamartine, Ledru Rollin, Odillon Barrot, and others, 



20 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. 



leading liberals, denounced the measures of the government 
and demanded reform. Guizot remained firm. A fierce 
struggle, but not a complete revolution, was anticipated by the 
ministry, and it was thought the government could brave the 
storm with ease. 

The revolution of February found France already on the 
verge of bankruptcy. The public debt (deducting the sink- 
ing fund), which in January, 1841, was 4,267,315,402 francs, 
had risen on the 1st of January 1848, to 5,179,644,730 francs. 
The budget, which in 1830 was 1,014,914,000 francs, was set- 
tled for 1847 at 1,712,979,639 francs. And, notwithstanding 
a successive increase of receipts, the budget showed a con- 
siderable annual deficit. From 1840 to 1847, the expense 
outstripped the receipts by 604,525,000 francs ; in other 
words, an addition of 24,000,000 sterling was made to the 
national debt in the space of seven years. During the last 
268 days of its existence, the fallen government expended 
beyond its ordinary resources ,£44,000 per diem. 

Such a financial system absorbed all the resources of the 
people, and abstracted from them all the means of bettering 
their condition, improving in industrial, agricultural, and com- 
mercial pursuits, and advancing in instruction and morality. 
"Let it not be said that the greater proportions of the taxes 
bore upon the rich ; it was quite the contrary. Most of them 
were almost exclusively paid by the poorer classes and the 
tradespeople. The 750,000,000 francs produced by the excise, 
the tax on salt, the customs, and the stamp duty, fell entirely 
upon these classes ; which, besides, participated in a due pro- 
portion in the payment of the other taxes. The fact cannot 
be controverted, and official returns, carefully collated, prove 
that the total amount of taxes paid by the ruling or govern- 
mental class, the 240,000 electors and jurymen, never ex- 
ceeded 54,000,000 francs ; that is [less than] the twentieth 
part of the whole amount of the contributions levied upon the 
people. In England, the rich man pays in some degree for 
the gratification of his pride, of his tastes, for the enjoy- 
ment of his pleasure, and for his . luxui'ies : he pays for hiS' 



THE STATE OF ELI! OPE. 



21 




Fergus O'Comior. 



servants, for his carriage, for his horses, for his hounds, for 
sporting a coronet, a helmet, a buck's head, or any other 
family devices. In France, such taxes were not known ; but 
then the beverage of the artisans, the spade of the labourer, 
the axe of the woodman, paid 100 per cent, of their value. 

In the British isles, a strong radical party existed, which 
increased in strength and clamour with the increase of distress 
among the working-classes. In all the cities and towns this 
party was numerous, while it could command a respectable 
vote in parliament. Universal suffrage, vote by ballot, an- 
nual parliaments, and the separation of church and state were 
its principal demands. Joseph Hume, Richard Cobden, and 
Fergus O'Connor, were its leaders in parliament. The party 



22 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. 



assumed the name of Chartists. Meetina^s were held in 



&*■ 



nearly all the towns in England, violent speeches made, and 
a formidable organization eflected. 

The state of things in Ireland was deplorable. The failure 
of crops, famine, and pestilence, and all the evils resulting 
from absenteeism and taxation, caused in 1847 the very ex- 
tremity of national misery. The Repeal Association reor- 
ganized, and set its engine to work to procure a separate 
government for Ireland. Monster meetings were held in 
various parts of the island. Smith O'Brien, Thomas Mea- 
gher, John Mitchell, and others renewed the mighty toil to 
which Robert Emmet had fallen a sacrifice. These men went 
so far as to cause military companies to be formed, and the 
mass of the people were drilled for a deadly struggle. The 
result of all this unwise and dreadful preparation shall be 
hereafter narrated. 

Most of the other countries of Europe which we have not 
noticed were not affected by the shock of revolution in 1848. 
Russia, under the energetic rule of Nicholas, remained firm 
and quiet. Her peasantry suffered from the tyranny of the 
nobles, but had not the spirit and intelligence to attempt to 
throw off the oppressive yoke. Sweden, Norway, and Den- 
mark, were not affected by the convulsion. Perhaps, Russian 
diplomacy prevailed in those three countries ; but the bur- 
dens of the masses were not sufficiently grievous to cause 
them to rise against their masters- The Turks love their 
government and institutions too well to think of change. 
The Swiss were and are free. The Greeks were passive 
under the paw of Russia. Holland and Belgium were thrown 
into the turbulent waves of revolution, soon after the French 
movement, ^nd came out healthier and sounder. In each of 
these kingdoms a liberal party existed, consisting of intelli- 
gent and determined men. Yet before the February revolu- 
tion in France, the monarchs were all-powerful, placing chains 
upon speech as well as action. Spain and Portugal were 
passive under the dark tyranny of church and state. Thus 
Stood Europe waiting for the thunder-clap- 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



23 




Guizot 



CHAPTER II. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY, 1848. 



At the commencement of 1848, M. Guizot could command 
a majority of seventy-eiglit in the Chamber of France. Nearly 
two-thirds of his supporters were office-holders — persons fed 
from the government granary; and, therefore, not likely to do 
any thing in opposition to the minister's will. Is it wonderful 
that the country should have insisted upon a reform of this 
mockery of legislative freedom? A very moderate conces- 
sion would have satisfied the opposition ; they only asked for 
a reduction of the two hundred officials forming the ministerial 
majority, and the paltry addition of 20,000 electors to the 
240,000 already on the lists. The king and his ministers, 
in the royal speech, attributed these very modest demands to 
"blind and hostile passions." The peers almost unanimous- 
ly, and the deputies by a large majority, re-echoed the royal 



24 THE KINGS AN© THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. 



insult ; but eight days had hardly elapsed before king, peers, 
deputies, disappeared from the government stage. 

The refusal of such slight concessions as the opposition 
requested, was given at a moment when all France was filled 
with disgust and indignation at disclosures of venality and 
corruption existing in high places. Several cases had been 
brought to the decision of courts, which threw a foul stigma 
upon the royal family and the aristocracy. That the govern- 
ment should persevere in its despotic course, in full view of 
the distress and disgust of the people, is sufficient proof that 
the obstinacy of Guizot outweighs his wisdom. 

After holding sixty-two reform banquets in various parts 
of France, and omitting to toast the king at each one, the 
opposition deputies determined to hold a monster banquet at 
Paris. Louis Philippe and his ministers forthwith resolved 
to put down these insolent contemners of royalty — these 
"everlasting foes of order." Military preparations were 
made on the most extensive scale; guns Avere mounted on all 
the fortresses round Paris. Large stores of ammunition were 
provided, and nothing seemed wanting to enable the govern- 
ment to crush any attempt at insurrection on the part of the 
people of Paris. These arrangements being made, the king 
prepared to meet the chambers with a bold front, in the full 
assurance that he was once more about to signalize the tri- 
umph of might over right. However, his address upon the 
1st of January, 1848, was coldly and silently received. 

The debate on the address, in reply to the royal speech, 
was protracted through no fewer than nineteen sittings. The 
ministers declared theu' intention to prohibit the Reform 
Banquet. The opposition members announced their deter- 
mination to attend it, notwithstanding ; and both parties ap- 
pealed to the law in justification of their respective views. 
The 291st article of the Penal Code enacts, that — 

« No association of more than twenty persons, the object 
of which is to meet every day, or on certain fixed days, to 
occupy itself with religious, literary, political objects, or 
others, can be formed without the assent of the government, 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 25 



and under the conditions which the public authority may im- 
pose on the society." 

This enactment was reconsidered and extended subsequent- 
ly to the Revolution of July, in the year 1834, when another 
law was passed providing that this article of the Penal Code 
might be applied though such associations were divided into 
sections of less than twenty members, and although they 
should not meet at fixed times. At the same time the penal- 
ties for violating this law were augmented. The question, 
therefore, between the government and the opposition was, in 
the first place, one of law. Was, or was not, this legal pro- 
hibition applicable to the political meetings which had been 
held last autumn in various parts of the kingdom, at irregu- 
lar intervals, by the agents of a political party avowedly 
actinji under the direction of a central electoral committee 
sitting in Paris ? Did the term association, which alone oc- 
curs in the law, include political meetings of a more uncer- 
tain and occasional character ? 

These questions did not escape the notice of the legislature 
in 1834, when the law itself was under discussion. On that 
occasion M. Martin, the reporter of the bill, who afterward 
himself filled the office of Minister of Justice, expressly 
stated that " every one knew the difference between an asso- 
ciation and a meeting, [reunionA Meetings are caused by 
unforseen, temporary occurrences, and cease when the motive 
ceases. Associations have a determined and permanent ob- 
ject. There exists a tie between the members of an associa- 
tion. JVohody has yet supposed that meetings (reunions) are 
affected hy Article 291 of the Penal Code. Bo not fear that 
they loill he so affected hy the law under discussion.'' In the 
same debate, the then Minister of Justice himself declared 
that this law was proposed " against associations, and not 
against those accidental and temporary meetings which have 
for their object the exercise of a constitutional right." These 
declarations, which are recorded in the " Moniteur" of the 
22d of March, 1834, are certainly at variance with the con- 
struction put upon the law by the government ; and it was 



26 THE KINGS AND TUB PEOPLE OF EUROPE. 



evident that only by a trial in a court of law could this dis- 
puted point of jurisprudence be settled. 

The government seemed at last to admit this, and they 
even condescended to a sort of compromise with the opposi- 
tion : they gave it to be understood that they would allow the 
banquet to take place, but under protest. A single commis- 
sary of police was to be stationed at the door of the ban- 
queting-hall, to warn those attending of the illegality of their 
proceedings, and then withdraw. Furthermore, in order in 
some degree to disarm the opposition, the ministry declared 
by their official organ, the "Debats," that the question about 
reform was merely one of time, for that principle was al- 
ready agreed on by the Cabinet. "The question of Parlia- 
mentary Reform will be discussed in all its bearings during 
the present parliament. Not only will it be solved, but the 
solution will be what is already known," &c. The reform- 
ists treated with contempt this delusive promise, which was 
to be fulfilled some time or other in the course of a parlia- 
ment that had five years to run. 

On Saturday, February 12th, the several paragraphs of 
the address having been voted, a division took place on the 
whole collectively. The opposition in a body abstained from 
voting, and of 244 votes given there were 241 for Ministers. 
The opposition deputies assembled next day, and resolved 
unanimously that they would all attend the proposed banquet, 
and that no member of their party, even if drawn by lot to 
present the address to the king, should participate in that 
ceremony. Subsequently the banquet was fixed to take place 
on Tuesday the 22d of February. 

It was not until a Jate hour on Monday that the determi- 
nation of the government not to allow the banquet was made 
known in the chamber. The debate, which was on the Bor- 
deaux Bank Bill, had attracted but few members, Avhen sud- 
denly, at a little before five o'clock, the doors were thrown open, 
and two hundred and fifty deputies rushed to their places. In 
five minutes the chamber, almost empty befoi^e, was filled in 
every part. Odillon Barrot then rose and said, " The chamber 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



27 




Odillon Barrot. 



must remember that, -when the Address was under considera- 
tion here, a discussion took place relative to the right in- 
sisted on hy us, and denied by the government, of meeting 
together, on condition of previously informing the authori- 
ties, and of assembling without tumult and without arms. 
That question was not decided. My opinion is, that it ought 
to have been settled by the Chambers ; for when a constitu- 
tional question of such great importance is brought forward, 
the duty of parliament is not to leave it in doubt — for to it 
belongs the task of regulating the political rights of citizens. 
This question ought therefore to have been decided; but it 
was not so. However, an imperative duty remained for those 
who maintain that the right of meeting is one of those liber- 
ties which a citizen cannot allow himself to be despoiled of 
without compromising all the others ; and that was, to set 
forth, in presence of the pretensions of the government, a 
solemn protest, — in fact, to exercise that right in such a 
manner, as that on their part, at least, there should be no 



28 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. 



concession ; that is, with the firm resolution not to stop short, 
except before some invincible obstacle. That arrangement 
had been accepted. We thought that the government, be- 
lieving itself armed with sufficient laws, intended to carry- 
before the tribunals such persons as should persist in claim- 
ing the right of meeting, and of having the legality of that 
right in that manner decided ; matters would so have passed 
over with calm, and without disturbance. The public, no 
doubt, was exceedingly occupied with the matter, as it could 
not remain indifferent to a dispute, on the issue of which de- 
pended the most precious of its rights, since from it flowed 
all the rest. Yet, notwithstanding this profound and most 
natural emotion of the public, I do not hesitate to declare 
that the contest would have been in every respect according 
to law, and exempt from all trouble and disturbance. (De- 
nial from the centres.) I am convinced that, however severe 
a blow the policy of the government might have received 
from the manifestation, public order would never have been a 
moment troubled. But it now appears, that to counsels of 
wisdom and prudence have succeeded other suggestions ; that 
acts of authority relative to a disturbance which may be 
called into existence, appear to establish that force is to be 
opposed to the peaceful exercise of an evident right. It 
does not belong to me at present to remark on the opportune- 
ness of the measures taken by the authorities. I fear that 
these measures, though said to be dictated by a care for 
order, may, on the contrary, become the cause of disturbance. 
The manifestation, peaceably effected, would have calmed 
down men's minds ; but now the very opposite effect will be 
produced, and an indefinite germ of perturbation and disorder 
will be left behind. If my voice could exercise any influence 
on the country, I would say to it, — ' The first necessity, the 
first duty of all, is to employ every possible means to pre- 
vent the evils which imprudent measures may produce.' It 
is that thought, gentlemen, which I have considered it neces- 
sary to express before this grave assembly — if it depended 
on me to appease the agitation which I foresee, I should do 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 29 



80 with all tho energy of my patriotism. (Hear, hear.) But 
there my powers cease, — I cannot say any thing further. It 
is to the Ministry that belongs the care of watching over 
public order, and it is to it that belongs the responsibility of 
what may happen." (Loud approbation from the left: great 
agitation.) 

The Minister of the Interior (Duchatel) replied. — "The 
responsibility of which the honourable deputy speaks does 
not fall on the government alone, — it applies to every one 
(hear, hear) ; and we have a manifest proof of the fact in 
the highly creditable care which M. 0. Barrot himself has 
exhibited, in expressing the sentiments which the Chamber 
has just heard. I shall very frankly and very clearly declare 
what is the present attitude of the government, and on what 
ground it has taken up its stand. (Hear, hear.) M. 0. Bar- 
rot has told you that the question of an unlimited right of 
meeting has been discussed in this Chamber, but not decided 
— that he had been anxious for a solution, and that it was in 
order that such a result might be come to that a banquet was 
announced and prepared ; he added, that the government it- 
self had appeared disposed, as much as it depended on it, 
within the limit of its opinion, which is opposed to that of 
M. 0. Barrot, to lead to the judicial solution which could 
settle the dispute. All that is true : we could, reckoning on 
the right which we consider as incontestible, and on the prac- 
tice which has never been called in question — we could, I say, 
have prevented, by the employment of force, the banquet 
announced for several days, and which has disturbed and 
agitated the capital. We were struck, like the honourable 
gentleman, with the advantage which would accrue to every 
one from obtaining a decision in a court of law; and while 
we maintained the principles expressed in this tribune by the 
government, we were ready to permit matters to arrive at the 
point when, a contravention having evidently taken place, a 
case for decision in a court of law could follow. (Hear, 
hear.) But, gentlemen, the matter has changed. I believe 
that there is not a single person in this Chamber who has not 






80 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE. 



this morning read a manifesto, published by a committee, (the 
members of which are not mentioned,) and inserted in all the 
opposition journals. What is the purport of that manifesto? 
It does not confine itself to speaking of the banquet, and 
preparing the judicial solution of the question — no, it makes 
an appeal to all those "who profess opposition principles, and 
invites them to a manifestation Avhich I have no hesitation in 
declaring would compromise the tranquillity of the capital. 
Nor is that all: the manifesto, in contempt of every law — in 
contempt, in particular, of that of 1831 — calls on the Na- 
tional Guards to assemble ; and not only that, but invites the 
students of the schools, young men under age, to join the 
cortege., which is to be defended, as it were, by the National 
Guards of the 12th Legion ; it announces that the National 
Guards are to be placed in the order of their legions, and 
under the conduct of their officers. Such a manifesto vio- 
lates all the laws of the country, on which tranquillity and 
public order depend. (Hear, hear.) The law relative to 
mob assemblages is clearly violated by it, as is that relative 
to the National Guard. (Hear, hear.) I appeal to the im- 
partiality of this Chamber, and I ask, what else is this mani- 
festo but the proclamation of a government wishing to place 
itself by the side of the regular one of the country? A 
government emanating from a committee, of which I know 
nothing, taking the place of the constitutional government 
founded by the charter, and supported by the majority of the 
two Chambers, takes on itself to speak to the citizens, to call 
out the National Guard, to provoke assemblages of the people 
in the public streets. That cannot be permitted; it is our 
duty not to allow such things to exist ! (Hear, hear.) We 
are responsible for the maintenance of public order. I hope, 
like M. 0. Barrot, that it will not be troubled ; but I should 
not answer for its not being so if the government did not 
take all the precautions that it deems necessary, since I have 
not the same faith as the honourable deputy in those who 
might take part in the manifestation. (Hear, hear, from the 
centres ; disapprobation from the left.) I now sum up what 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 31 



I meant to say, — we have on tins occasion acted a just part 
by every one. Until the manifesto of this morning, we main- 
tained the situation which the government had taken on the 
discussion of the Address: we were inclined to allow the 
question to be decided judicially, but cannot permit a govern- 
ment suddenly got up to exist in the face of the legal and 
constitutional government of the country." (Loud approba- 
tion from the centre.) 

M. 0. Barrot. — "I fear that the honourable minister is de- 
signedly exaggerating matters. (Murmurs, and cries of yes, 
yes, from the left.) If the honourable minister had merely 
declared that a solemn manifestation, in which a great part 
of the population was to take part, could disquiet the govern- 
ment, and disquiet it the more that all would be regular and 
peaceful, (no, no!) I think that he would be nearer the truth. 
But, I may ask, while leaving aside some expressions in the 
document, and which I neither avow nor disavow (great in- 
terruption) — I avow most loudly the intention of the docu- 
ment, but I disavow the language used — when men summon 
a great concourse of citizens together, would they not fail in 
their duty if they did not adopt every possible means to pre- 
serve order ? If, in our country, great meetings cannot take 
place unless when regulated by the official authorities, why, I 
suppose, they must even submit to such regulations ; but, in 
free countries, it is usual for such meetings to lay down their 
own rules for preserving order: and, on the occasion of the 
present manifestation, the men who took part in the matter 
were anxious that as great a number as possible of respect- 
able citizens — of the National Guards — should be present, to 
impose on those who could have any idea of disorder, and 
hence they were invited. You say that the National Guards 
were invited to join with arms, (denial from the "Centres,) but 
that was not the case : you are fighting against a mere chi- 
merical supposition, (denial from the centres.) Thanks to the 
progress of our political habits, thanks to the intelligence of 
the country, I can give you the utmost assurance that order 
would not have been troubled. You, by an unexpected com- 



32 THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. 



pression, by a state of siege which you do not even pretend 
to dissemble, you add to the difficulties of a position already 
too much strained. Now, on you, and on you alone, be the 
responsibility of such conduct. (Exclamations from the 
centre.) You are not willing to have order with and by 
means of liberty: undergo, then, the consequences of what 
you have done." (Great agitation.) 

The Minister of the Interior. — " Had I any occasion for 
proofs to justify the determination come to by the govern- 
ment, I should find them in the very words of the honourable 
gentleman. This manifesto, which he accuses us of having 
grossly exaggerated, he neither avows nor disavows. (Move- 
ment.) When the manifesto is neither avowed nor disavowed, 
can it be considered a subject of security by us who are 
charged to maintain public order ? Is it a subject of security 
to see a manifesto published which provokes a violation of the 
law, and which M. 0. Barrot dares not venture to say he 
avows ? (Agitation.) But the honourable gentleman declares 
that what is complained of are mere matters of police regu- 
lations, adopted spontaneously to prevent any disturbances 
that might take place : consequently, there existed the ele- 
ments of disturbance, or else why adopt such regulations? 
(Denial on the left.) Disorder was therefore nearer than 
was supposed. (Hear, hear.) I ask, when were self-consti- 
tuted committees admitted to have the mission of calling out 
the National Guards in order to maintain order ?" (Loud de- 
nial on the left, and disapprobation.) 

M. de Courtais. — " Will you dare to call out the National 
Guard? Only try it!" (Exclamations from the centre.) 

The Minister of the Interior. — "I listened toM. 0. Barrot 
with great attention, and I declare to him that I regard most 
seriously the* responsibility which weighs on us. The Cham- 
ber will do me this justice, that I have not, in this discussion, 
employed any irritating expression. (Hear, hear.) I might 
have deemed myself authorized to make use of recriminatory 
language, for it appeared to me that it was intimated that we 
wanted to conceal behind a question of public order the ques- 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 33 



tion of ministerial existence, and that we were anxious to 
exaggerate the proportions of an incident exceedingly gi -^ ve 
in itself, in order to advance our own interest; but I ha\v, 
not considered it fit to employ any recrimination: being, 
above all, the guardian of public order and of the law, I shall 
content myself with merely saying that we cannot admit the 
system which the honourable deputy has advocated in this 
tribune, nor can we admit either that there is any just cause 
to complain of that pretended compression which is really 
destined only to prevent acts evidently contrary to the law. 
I maintain what I said just now. We are willing to allow 
matters to reach a point at which the judicial question may 
intervene. That situation we had taken up, and we still 
maintain it. Call that, if you please, violence and compres- 
sion, but it is not so : it is the only thing that can be reason- 
ably called for by every one — it is the performance of the 
duties of the government, the maintenance of order, and the 
respect for the laws, on which the tranquillity of the country 
and safety of our institutions depend." (Approbation; great 
agitation.) 

Here the matter dropped, and the Chamber adjourned at 
six o'clock, in a perfect tumult. 

Immediately after, the opposition deputies held a meeting 
and drew up a manifesto, declaring their intention to aban- 
don the banquet, and advising the citizens to pursue the 
same course; but expressing their determination to struggle 
with renewed energy for the recognition of the right of 
meeting. The deputies thus sought to throw the entire re- 
sponsibility of disorder upon the government. The Pari- 
sians, were greatly dissatisfied at the want of firmness dis- 
played by M. Odillon Barrot, and many abused him in the 
most unmeasured terms, declaring that he was "too timid, 
and too rich," to be a popular leader at such a crisis. 

On Tuesday, the people were greatly excited, and vast 
crowds collected in the streets. But the garrison of Paris 
had been increased to 100,000 men, with supplies, and disci- 
plined ; and no great movement was made during the day. 

3 




■% 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OP 1848. 35 



As early as ten o'clock, however, a crowd collected at the 
Chamber of Deputies, and compelled to retire before the 
troops did so, crying, <' Vive la Reforme /" "^ has Guizot !" 
and singing the stirring "Marsellaise." In the vicinity of 
the Church of Madclaine the crowd was dense and formidable, 
but the dragoons at length succeeded in causing the people 
to disperse. At one o'clock, the main thoroughfares were 
clear. But in the neighbourhood of the Hotel of Foreign 
Affairs, the residence of Guizot, the crowd remained in spite 
of the Municipal Guard. The charges of the guard did 
very little damage, and they were laughed at by the people. 
The Chamber presented a gloomy aspect. Few deputies were 
in attendance ; the benches of the opposition were completely 
vacant. M. Guizot arrived at an early hour ; he looked pale but 
confident ; he was shortly afterAvard followed by the Ministers 
of Finance, Public Instruction, and Commerce. Marshal Bu- 
geaud, who was believed to have accepted the military command 
of Paris in the event of a revolt, took his seat close to the minis- 
terial bench. The Chamber then resumed the adjoui-ned dis- 
cussion on the bill relative to the renewal of the privilege of the 
Bank of Bordeaux. At three o'clock Odillon Barrot entered 
the hall, accompanied by Messrs. Duvergier, de Hauranne, 
Marie, Thiers, Garnier Pages, &c. Their appearance pro- 
duced some sensation. Shortly afterward M. de Haui-anne 
went up to the President and handed him a paper, supposed 
to be a proposition for the impeachment of ministers. This 
paper having been communicated by the President to M. 
Guizot, the latter, after perusing it, laughed immoderately. 
MM. Thiers, Dupin, Lamartine, Billault, Cr^mieux, and the 
Minister of the Interior and Justice, next made their appear- 
ance ; but the discussion on the bank bill continued until 
five o'clock, and no incident of interest occurred. When the 
discussion terminated, M. Odillon Barrot ascended the tribune, 
and deposited on the table a formal proposition, to the effect 
of impeaching ministers, signed by fifty-three deputies. The 
President, however, adjourned the Chambers without reading 
it, to the great disappointment of the opposition, but an- 



36 



THE KINGS AND THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE. 




Marshal Bugeaud. 



nounced that it should be submitted to the approbation of 
the bureaux on Thursday. 

The Chamber adjourned soon after five o'clock. Up to 
this time no very serious apprehensions appear to have been 
entertained as to the result of the day's proceedings. It 
was a troublesome riot, and that was all. The people were 
unarmed, and their attempts to cope with one hundred thou- 
sand soldiers was a melancholy absurdity ! The funds even 
rose ten centimes, and maintained that advance until the 
close of the Bourse. Late in the afternoon the government 
took heart of grace and ventured to call out the National 
Guard. The rappel was beaten at five o'clock, and the man- 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 37 



ner in which this was done was curious and significant. The 
drummers, who were preceded and followed by two sections 
of National Guards, were accompanied by some hundreds of 
young fellows in blouses, armed with long sticks, and roaring 
out the favourite cries and songs of the day. 

The skirmishing continued until a late hour in the Fau- 
bourg St. Antoine ; but by midnight all the barricades, erected 
in the course of the day, had been thrown down, and Paris 
was throughout the night in the entire possession of the 
troops, who bivouacked in the streets and market-places. 

On Wednesday morning all hackney-coaches, cabs, omni- 
buses, and every description of public carriage, had disap- 
peared from the streets and the public stands, their owners 
being warned by the fate of the vehicles which were seized 
by the populace on Tuesday evening to form barricades, and 
some of which were burned. The iron railings in several 
parts of the town were torn down to supply weapons to the 
populace. This took place at the hotel of the Minister of 
Marine, in the Place de la Concorde, at the churches of the 
Assumption and of St. Roque, in the Rue St. Honor^, and 
elsewhere. 

By nine o'clock, the people assembled in considerable 
numbers in the quarters St. Denis and St. Martin ; and at 
ten o'clock they had succeeded in erecting barricades at the 
Porte St. Denis, in the Rue de Clery, in the Rue Neuve St^ 
Eustache, the Rue du Cadran, and the Rue du Petit-Carreau. 
Conflicts took place at some of these barricades between the 
populace and the Municipal Guards, and two young men were 
killed. Several Municipal Guards were pursued to the Place 
du Caire, by young men armed Avith sticks. The guards fired 
and wounded several persons. A woman was killed on the' 
spot. The officer of a platoon of the National Guard, who- 
was on the place, was so indignant, that he cried, — "To' 
arms!" whereupon the Municipal Guard beat a retreat. Two- 
hours later, the Place du Caire was perfectly calm ; in fact, 
not a soul was to be seen except three National Guards in 
the Passage du Caire. 



38 THE FKENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



At the Porte St. Denis the troops charged the people, and 
the barricade in the Rue Cadran, at the entrance to the Rue 
Montmartre, was attacked by the Municipal Guards, who fired 
on the mob, killing a child, and seriously wounding two men 
and three women. 

At twelve o'clock, all the quarter of the markets was fully 
occupied. There was a battalion of the 21st regiment on 
the Marche des Innocens, besides detachments of the Muni- 
cipal Guard, horse and foot, and two detachments of Cuiras- 
siers. Two pieces of cannon were on the spot, one of which 
was directed towards the Rue Montmartre, the other toward 
the Rue de la Ferronnerie. They were ready to be employed 
at a moment's notice. The fish-market was occupied by a 
battalion of the 1st regiment. 

On the Place du Carrousel, the Horse Municipal Guard 
made repeated charges ; but the people, after dispersing on 
one spot, immediately reassembled on another. At the bar- 
ricade in the Rue de Clery, which was half-destroyed, the 
Municipal Guard fired, and several persons were wounded. 

The National Guards of the Second Legion began to as- 
semble at an early hour in the Rue Lepelletier, in front of 
the Opera House. At half-past eleven there were about one 
hundred and fifty of them collected, and they formed in two 
lines across the street, one division at each extremity of the 
theatre. In the centre were the officers ; outside, the people 
frantic with joy. A National Guard being asked what had 
happened, — "We have declared for Reform," said he : "that 
is, some of us difi"er about reform, but we are all agreed about 
Guizot. Down with Guizot!" Vive la JReforme! Vive la 
Cfarde Nationale ! cried the people incessantly. An hour 
afterward the National Guards proceeded, with their sap- 
peurs at their head, in full uniform, to the Tuileries, to de- 
clare their sentiments. 

They returned about one o'clock, and occupied the Rue 
Lepelletier again. A platoon closed the street on the Boule- 
vard, and was hailed with shouts of Vive la Gfarde Ratio- 
nale ! A squadron of Cuirassiers, supported by half a squad- 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 39 



ron of Chasseurs d cheval, arrived. The chef d'escadron 
gave orders to draw swords. The ranks of the National 
Guards closed. The shouts of the people redoubled, although 
not a man of them was armed. The squadron made a half- 
movement on the Rue Lepelletier, when the oflBcer in com- 
mand of the National Guards drew his SAVord, advanced, and 
saluted him. A few words Avere exchanged. They separated. 
The one placed himself at the head of his soldiers, and gave 
the word to "wheel and forward," and they resumed their 
march, accompanied by the cheers and the clapping of hands 
of the multitude. The officer of the National Guards re- 
turned very quietly to his post, and sheathed his sword. 

It is said the words exchanged between the officers were 
these, — "Who are these men?" " They are the people." 
"And those in uniform?" "They are the Second Legion 
of the National Guard of Paris." " The people must dis- 
perse." "They will not." "I shall use force." " Sir, the 
National Guards sympathize with the people, the people who 
demand reform." "They must disperse." " They will not." 
" I must use force." " Sir, we, the National Guards, sym- 
pathize in the desire for reform, and will defend them." 

By half-past two o'clock three more scenes of the same 
kind had occurred. The Municipal Guards, who occupied 
the unpopular position of the gendarmes of 1830, were now, 
by order of the government, mixed up with the troops of the 
line, on whom the people were lavish of their compliments 
and caresses. A column of ^cavalry and infantry. Municipal 
Guards, and infantry of the line, arrived by the Boulevard 
at the end of the Rue Lepelletier. They made a move like 
the others as if to wheel into that street, but the attitude of 
the National Guard made them pause, and immediately the 
word was given to continue their march, the people rending 
the air with cries for reform, for the infantry, and the Na- 
tional Guards. Again a precisely similar occurrence took 
place, but this time it ended with the absolute retreat of the 
troops, for they turned around and retired up the Boulevard. 

Such was the conduct of the Second Legion of the Na- 



40 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



tional Guard. The initiative, however, appears to have been 
taken by the Third Legion, who this morning, at the mairie 
of the third arrondissement — Place des Petits P^res, declared 
for reform. The Municipal Guards, whose barracks adjoin 
the church of the Petits Peres, were ordered to disarm them, 
and advanced to the charge with the bayonets levelled ; but 
the movement was imitated by the National Guard, the bayo- 
nets crossed; blood was about to flow, when the colonel of 
the National Guard, M. Textorix, cried out, "Hold, soldiers! 
these are the people ; respect the people." The effect was 
electric. The Municipal Guards raised their bayonets, shoul- 
dered arms, and marched off. 

This incident had a powerful influence on the rest of the 
National Guards of that legion. They almost to a man 
joined their comrades, and attained the number of three 
thousand by one o'clock. Their officers having then held a 
council, agreed to depute their colonel to the king, to ac- 
quaint his majesty with the wishes of the National Guard, — 
in other words, reform and the dismissal of the cabinet. 
That officer immediately proceeded to the palace, but was not 
admitted into the royal presence ; he only saw General 
Jacqueminot, the commander-in-chief of the National Guard, 
who promised that he would that instant carry himself the 
memorial to the king. The National Guards remained as- 
sembled on the square awaiting the return of the colonel, 
their determination being to march upon the Tuileries if the 
reply was negative. Occasionally strong patrols were sent 
out to interpose, if necessary, between the combatants ; but 
no hostilities took place in the neighbourhood, the troops 
quietly remaining on the adjoining Place des Victories, with- 
out giving the least provocation. The Nationals filed by 
them shouting for reform and the dismissal of ministers, sur- 
rounded and followed by an immense mass of people uttering 
the same cries, and the soldiers of the line by their counte- 
nances testified that they concurred in the popular feeling. 
In one of the by-streets a detachment of troops, stationed 
there to intercept the passage, were helped to bread and wine 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 41 



hj the people, and their officers looked on, nay, encouraged 
them to accept the provisions offered to them. The Fourth 
Legion also took arms, and stationed detachments in different 
directions to maintain order and prevent the effusion of 
blood. 

The members of the left mustered strong in the Chamber 
of Deputies this day. M. Vavin, one of the deputies for 
Paris, rose amidst profound silence, and said that he had a 
solemn duty to accomplish, which was to call the Minister of 
the Interior to account for the scenes then passing in the 
capital. During twenty-four hours serious disturbances had 
taken place in Paris, and the population remarked with as- 
tonishment the absence of the National Guard. On Monday, 
orders had been given for its attendance. Why had they 
been countermanded ? Why was it only after a first collision 
that the drummers were permitted to beat to arms ? If from 
the beginning the National Guard had been called out, fatal 
misfortunes would have been avoided. 

M. Guizot, who had shortly before entered the Chamber, 
immediately rose and said, — "I have nothing to say at the 
present moment to the questions of the honourable member. 
The king has sent for Count Mol^, who is empowered to form 
a ministry." (Loud cries of bravo! and cheers followed the 
announcement, Avhich appeared to annoy M. Guizot. He 
then continued.) " We are not to be prevented by such mani- 
festations as those I now hear, as long as we remain in office, 
which will be till our successors are appointed, from doing 
our duty. We shall consider ourselves answerable for all 
that may happen. We shall act in every thing we do, ac- 
cording to our best judgment and our consciences, and ac- 
cording to what we consider the interests of the country." 

Thus fell Guizot, a man of indomitable will, extensive in- 
formation, and great mental capacity, but most intensely and 
unscrupulously selfish. His soul was too full of pride to leave 
room for any other sentiment. He might have been thrust 
head-foremost into the ocean, and he would not have admitted 
that he was drowning. He believed in his own infallibility, 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 43 



with a violejit and desperate faith.* He bears the fame of a 
great statesman. A great politician he may have been. He 
aimed at power and obtained it. But a great statesman 
should aim at, and reach, something more. National pros- 
perity and influence abroad should be the result of his mea- 
sures. And such were not the results of Guizot's adminis- 
tration. 

The announcement of the resignation of M. Guizot was 
received with cheers, illuminations, and rejoicings by the 
people of Paris. All hostile movements ceased, and it was 
expected that complete tranquillity would be restored. But 
it occurred to the victors that M. Guizot's hotel ought to be 
illuminated as well as the houses of his neighbours. A, 
proposition to that effect was made to the soldiers on guard. 
While the parley was going on, some of the troops were* in- 
sulted by the more violent of the insurgents. Lagrange, the 
Lyons conspirator, fired and broke the leg of a lieutenant- 
colonel's horse. Instantly, without warning, the whole line 
fired along the Boulevards, making frightful carnage among 
the inoffensive throng. Fifty-two persons fell, dead or 
wounded. The people fled in consternation. But fear soon 
gave way to indignation and the thirst for vengeance. The 
cry then burst forth from every lip, " To arms ! Down with 
the assassins ! Down with Louis Philippe ! Down with all 
his race! Barricades*! Barricades !" and these dread sounds 
were echoed in all the streets of the capital. Another volley 
was discharged on the crowd in the Rue de la Paix, which 
still further excited the fury of the people. They returned 
to the barricades, at which they worked without interruption 
all night, and next morning there was not a single leading 
street in the capital which was not a fortress. The drums 
of the National Guard Avere beating all night. All the posts 
of the Municipal Guard were attacked, taken, and their 
contents burned by the people. Arms were taken wherever 
they could be found. 

* De Cormenin. 



44 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 




M. Thiers. 

The attempt to form a Mol^ administration failed. The 
king sent, late at night, to M. Thiers, and asked him to form 
a ministry. Marshal Bugeaud was appointed commander-in- 
chief of the National Guard, but finding he was not to have 
a carte hlanche, he resigned, and was replaced by General 
Lamoriciere. 

Such was the state of Paris on Thursday morning at day- 
break : and with every successive hour the situation of the 
government grew more critical. From all sides accounts ar- 
rived of the union of the National Guard with the people, 
and (what was still more alarming) of the regiments of the 
line with the National Guard. The National Guard would 
not fire on the people ; the line would not fire on the National 
Guard. The force of the government was paralysed. About 
nine o'clock, the 45th regiment of the line bodily fraternised 
with the National Guurd. The 30th regiment gave up their 
arms to the people at the first summons. At eleven, the 
quarters of the five companies of Pompiers of Paris were as- 
sailed ; the whole of their arms and ammunition were given 
up to the insurgents. Reports of similar defalcations were 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 45 



every moment brought to the Tuilerics ; and at length it be- 
came evident that if something were not done, and that 
speedily, the whole body of the troops would desert the 
sovereign. At length the following proclamation was issued, 
and posted at the Bourse and in every street : — 

First Proclamation, at Eleven o'clock. 

" Citizens of Paris ! — Orders have been given to suspend 
the firing. We have just been charged by the king to com- 
pose a ministry. The Chamber will be dissolved immediately. 
General Lamoriciere has been nominated commander-in-chief 
of the National Guard of Paris. 

"MM. 0. Barrot, Thiers, Lamoriciere, and Duvergier de 
Hauranne are Ministers. 

"Liberty! Order! Union! Reform! 

(Signed) " Odillon "Carrot and Thiers." 

This proclamation came too late, and was torn down as fast 
as it was posted ! By the time it Avas issued the people felt 
that they were the victors, for not only had the whole of the 
National Guard of Paris taken their part, but a large portion 
of the soldiers of the line had openly joined them, while 
many more had refused to fire upon them. A piece of du- 
plicity on the part of the authorities, which was discovered, 
had also an exasperating efi"ect. On the orders being given 
to suspend the firing at the barricades, the troops were with- 
drawn, and the people were informed that they had been 
ordered back to their barracks ; but they soon learned that 
they had been drawn around the Tuileries, for its defence. 

There was an immediate cry of Aux Tuileries ! and from 
all parts of the capital immense bodies of the insurgents, 
now well armed, and marching along with the National 
Guards, were to be seen directing their way toward the 
Palais Royal and the Palace of the Tuileries. By twelve 
o'clock the whole of that quarter of the town was invested. 
The new ministers had in vain gone among the people, and 
exerted all their personal influence to allay the popular fury. 



46 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



They were coldly received. "We have been too often de- 
luded. This time we will make all sure," was the universal 
cry. The alarm in the palace may be guessed at by the fact, 
that before one o'clock the following proclamation was to be 
seen at the Bourse and in several of the streets : — 

Second Proclamation, One o'clock. 

" Citizens of Paris ! — The king has abdicated in favour of 
the Count de Paris, with the Duchess of Orleans as Regent. 

" A general amnesty. Dissolution of the Chamber. Ap- 
peal to the country." 

But it was again too late. The tardy concession could not 
save the dynasty, or even its palace. It was about this time 
that red flags began to appear, with the word "Republic !" 
rudely traced upon them, and the terrible cry became fre- 
quent, — "^ la potence Louis Philippe!''' — "To the gallows 
with Louis Philippe !" At half-past twelve the attack on the 
Palais Royal commenced, and from that moment till half- 
past one the firing was incessant. The Palais Royal was 
taken by storm after a battle which lasted nearly an hour. 
The Palace of the Tuileries made no resistance. At half- 
past one it surrendered, and the people entered at one side, 
just as the king and his family were escaping at the other. 
As the people arrived at the Place du Palais Royal they wpre 
received by a discharge of musketry from a post called the 
Chateau d'Eu. The coolest act of this day was the manner 
in which these men in blouses dislodged the troops and set 
fire to their barracks. 'They were headed by the National 
Guard ; all at once the guard opened its ranks, and out 
stepped some five hundred to a thousand of the people, who 
coolly walked without flinching (their comrades falling at 
their sides) till they arrived directly under the walls of the 
barracks. They then laid hold of some citadines, filled them 
with straw, set fire to them, and thus smoked them out. 
Some of the soldiers escaped by the back way ; the captain 
and a few others attempted to cut their way out, but were 



48 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



immediately shot or bayoneted. The remains of twenty 
burned bodies were found in the ruins. 

The Palais Royal and the Tuileries were completely sacked. 
The splendid furniture was broken and burned. The throne 
of Louis Philippe was cast into the fire amid thunders of 
applause. All attempts at theft, however, were rigorously 
punished. The people desired that no petty act of selfish- 
ness should stain their patriotic vengeance. It was but 
justice to destroy the magnificent dresses of corrupt mo- 
narchy. It would have been criminal to have stolen even 
their spangles. The valuable treasures of art in the two 
palaces were suffered to remain uninjured. Throughout their 
work, the people evinced that they were much more capable 
of noble self-government than their royal rulers had ever 
admitted. 

The scene in the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday, was 
one of the most extraordinary ever beheld. It was, in, fact, 
a combined repetition of what occurred in the Constituent 
Assembly on the 10th of August, 1792, and of the decisive 
blow struck by Bonaparte on the 18th Brumaire, when he 
turned the legislative body out of doors with his grenadiers. 
The dynasty and the legislature were alike deposed by the 
armed people on the memorable 24th of February, 1848. 

At one o'clock the President took the chair ; upward of 
three hundred members were present. In half an hour after- 
wards the Duchess of Orleans entered with her two sons' and 
the Duke de Nemours and Montpensier. The young Comte 
de Paris came first, led by one of the deputies. It was with 
great difficulty that way could be made for him amidst the 
crowd of officers and soldiers of the National Guard. His 
presence at the door caused a strong sensation, which broke 
forth in murmurs that soon rose to loud exclamations of, 
"You cannot enter ! You have no right here!" Several of 
the people, however, rushed into the chamber with the young 
Count, and placed him under the tribune. A moment after- 
ward the Duchess of Orleans entered, and seated herself in 
a chair, with her two sons beside her. Immediately the 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



49 




Cremieux. 



passages, and every vacant space, was filled with such of the 
populace as had succeeded in squeezing themselves in with 
the National Guards. The Princess soon after quitted the 
semicircle, and retired to one of the upper benches of the 
centre, and opposite to the President's bureau. The Chamber 
was agitated in every part. The first to speak was M. Dupin, 
who said, "that in the present situation of the capital it had 
been found necessary to reassemble the Chamber without loss 
of time. The king had abdicated the crown in favour of his 
grandson, and devolved the regency on the Duchess of Or- 
leans." At this announcement cries of bravo! resounded 
from the centre, and from some of the public galleries. Dis- 

4 



60 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 




Ledru Rollin. 



approbation was expressed on the benches of the left, and one 
voice was heard above the rest, exclaiming, "It is too late !" 
A scene of confusion it is impossible to describe ensued. 
The Duchess and her children now appeared in the midst of 
a group of deputies. The National Guards hastened to sur- 
round the royal family. The Dukes of Nemours and Mont- 
pensier were seated behind the two young princes and their 
mother. 

MM, Marie, Crdmieux, Genoude, Barrot, Chevalier, La- 
rochejaquelin, Ledru Rollin, and Lamartine, severally ad- 
dressed the deputies, th-ough very often interrupted by the 
crowd, which filled the Chamber, threatened the Duchess of 
Orleans and the Count of Paris, and demanded a Republic. 
Lamartine proposed a Provisional government, and the pro- 
position was received with shouts of approbation. The names 
of the members of the government were written upon slips 
and carried around the chamber on the points of bayonets. 
The sitting broke up amid the confusion. About four o'clock 
the crowd moved to the Hotel de Ville. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



51 




M. Marie. 



At the Hotel de Yille a very exciting scene was presented. 
The Provisional government sat to decide upon the course to 
be adopted. The people fiercely demanded a simple and 
free democracy. The socialist leaders clamoured for the 
protection of labour. The aged Dupont de I'Eure tried in 
vain to be heard in defence of a moderate republic. M. 
Marie met with no better success. At length, the Provi- 
sional government issued the following proclamation : — 

" To the French People. 

" A retrograde and oligarchic government has been over- 
turned by the heroism of the people of Paris. This govern- 
ment has fled, leaving behind it traces of blood, which will 



52 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



for ever forbid its return. The blood of the people has 
flowed as in July, but happily it will not have been shed in 
vain. It has secured a national and popular government, in 
accordance with the rights, the progress, and the will of this 
great and generous people. A Provisional government, 
chosen by the acclamation and at the call of the people, and 
some of the deputies of the departments in the sitting of the 
24th of February, is for the moment invested with the care 
of organizing and securing the national victory. It is com- 
posed of MM. Dupont (de I'Eure), Lamartine, Crdmieux, 
Arago (de I'lnstitut), Ledru Rollin, and Garnier Pag^s. The 
secretaries to this government are MM. Armand Marrast, 
editor of the 'National;" Louis Blanc, Ferdinand Flocon, 
editor of the 'R^forme,' and Albert. These citizens have 
not hesitated for an instant to accept the patriotic mission 
which has been imposed on them by the urgency of the oc- 
casion. When the capital of France is under fire, the mis- 
sion of the Provisional government is that of public safety. 
All France will understand this, and will give the assistance 
of its patriotism. Under the popular government now pro- 
claimed by the Provisional government, every citizen is a 
magistrate. Frenchmen, give to the world the example which 
Paris has given to France. Prepare yourselves, by order 
and confidence in yourselves, for those strong institutions 
which you are about to be called upon to give yourselves. 
The Provisional government desires a Republic, subject to 
the ratification of the French people, who are to be imme- 
diately consulted. Neither the people of Paris nor the Pro- 
visional government desire to substitute their opinion for the 
opinions of the citizens at large, upon the definite form of 
government which the national sovereignty shall proclaim. 
The unity of the nation, formed henceforth of all classes of 
the people which compose it. The government of the nation 
by itself. Liberty, equality, and fraternity for its principles. 
The national device and pass-word to be 'The People.' Such 
is the democratic government which France owes to herself, 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



53 




Bethmont. 



and wliich our efforts will assure to her. Such are the first 
acts of the Provisional government. 

(Signed), "Dupont (de I'Eure), Lamartine, Ledru Rollin, 
Bedeau, Michael Goudechaux, Arago, Bethmont, Marie, 
Carnot, Cavaignac, Garnier Pages. 

"The Municipal Guard is disbanded. The protection of 
the city of Paris is confided to the National Guard, under the 
orders of M. Courtais." 

This proclamation was followed by another, appointing a 
Provisional Ministry, as follows: — M. Dupont (de I'Eure), 
President of the Council, without portfolio; M. De Lamar- 
tine, Minister of Foreign Affairs ; M. Cr^mieux, Minister of 



54 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



Justice; M. Ledru Rollin, Ministir of the Interior; M. 
Michel Goudechaux, Minister of Finance ; M. Frangois Arago, 
Minister of Marine ; General Bedean, Minister of War ; M. 
Carnot, Minister of Public Instruction and Worship ; M. 
Bethmont, Minister of Commerce; M. Marie, Minister of 
Public Works; General Cavaignac^ Governor of Algeria. 
To these decrees succeeded : — 

" The Municipal Guard is dissolved. M. Garnier Pag^s is 
named Mayor of Paris, and to him are given as adjoints, 
MM. Guinard and Recurt. M, Flotard is named Secretary- 
general. All the other Mayors of Paris are provisionally 
maintained. The Prefecture of Police is luider the depen- 
dence of the Mayor of Paris. In the name of France, the 
Provisional government decides that the Chamber of Depu- 
ties is dissolved. The ex-Chamber of Peers is forbidden to 
meet. A National Assembly will be convoked as soon as the 
Provisional government shall have regulated the necessary 
measures of order and police." 

Further appointments followed in rapid succession. Ge- 
neral Subervie was substituted for General Bedeau, as Minis- 
ter of War, General Bedeau taking the command of the 
first military division ; Admiral Baudin was appointed Com- 
mander of the Fleet ; the Police department was intrusted 
to the citizens Caussidiere and Sobrier ; and citizen Et. 
Arago was appointed to the Direction-General of the Post- 
office. A notice also advised the bakers, or furnishers 6f 
provisions of Paris, to keep their shops open to all those who 
might have occasion for them. The people were expressly 
recommended not to quit their arms, their positions, or their 
revolutionary attitude. It was further announced that the 
liberation of all who had been imprisoned on political grounds 
had been effected ; but, at the same time, all who had been 
convicted of crimes against persons and property were de- 
tained. 

Meanwhile, where was Louis Philippe ? M. Maurice, an 
eyewitness, thus describes his flight : — 

« About one o'clock in the afternoon, while in conversation 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 55 



with the colonel of the 21st Regiment of the Line, who ap- 
peared well-disposed, and of which he gave proof in ordering 
his men to sheath their bayonets, a young man in plain 
clothes, who turned out to be the son of Admiral Baudin, on 
horseback, trotted past us at a quick pace, crying out that 
Louis Philippe had abdicated, and requesting that the news 
might be circulated. A few instants after, at the Pont Tour- 
nant, we saw approach from the Tuileries a troop of cavalry 
of the National Guards, at a walking pace, forming the head 
of a procession, and by gestures and cries inviting the citi- 
zens to abstain from every unfavourable demonstration. At 
this moment the expression, ' a great misfortune !' {une grande 
infortune), was heard, and the King, Louis Philippe, his right 
arm passed under the left arm of the queen, on whom he 
appeared to lean for support, was seen approaching from the 
gate of the Tuileries, in the midst of the horsemen, and fol- 
lowed by about thirty persons in diflFerent uniforms. The 
queen walked with a firm step, and cast around looks of as- 
surance and anger intermingled. The king wore a black coat, 
with a common round hat, but wore no orders. The queen 
was in full mourning. A report was circulated that they were 
going to the Chamber of Deputies to deliver the act of abdi- 
cation. Cries of Vive la Reforme ! Vive la France ! and 
even, by two or three persons, Vive la Roi! were heard. 
The procession had scarcely passed the Pont Tournant, and 
arrived at the pavement surrounding the obelisk, when the 
king, the queen, and the whole party made a sudden halt, 
apparently without any necessity. In a moment they were 
surrounded by a crowd on foot and horseback, and so pressed 
on that they could no longer move freely. Louis Philippe 
appeared alarmed at this sudden approach. Indeed, the spot, 
chosen by an unhappy chance, produced a strange feeling. 
A few paces off a Bourbon king, an innocent and resigned 
victim, would have been happy to have experienced no other 
treatment. Louis Philippe turned quickly round, let go the 
queen's arm, took off his hat, raised it in the air, and cried 
out something which the noise prevented me hearing ; in fact, 



\ 

56 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



the cries and pele-mele were general. The queen became 
alarmed at no longer feeling the king's arm, and turned around 
with extreme haste, saying something which I could not catch. 
At this moment I said, Madame, ne craignez rien ; continuez, 
les rangs vont s'ouvrir devant vous — 'Have no fear, madame; 
go on, the crowd will open and make way for you.' Whether 
her. anxiety gave a false interpretation to my intention or 
not I am ignorant," but pushing back my hand she exclaimed, 
Laissez moi! in a tone of extreme irritation. She seized 
hold of the king's arm, and they both turned their steps 
toward two small black carriages with one horse each. In 
the first were two young children. The king took the left 
and the queen the right, and the children with their faces 
close to the windows of the vehicle, looking at the crowd with 
the utmost curiosity ; the coachman whipped his horse vio- 
lently, in fact with so much rapidity did it take place that 
the coach appeared rather carried than driven aAvay ; it passed 
before me, surrounded by the cavalry and National Guards 
present, and cuirassiers, and dragoons. The second carriage, 
in which were two females, followed the other at the same 
pace, and the escort, which amounted to about two hundred 
men, set ofi" at a full gallop, taking the water side, toward 
St. Cloud." 

" The flight of Louis Philippe," says the ' Paris National,' 
"was marked by an incident which does so much honour to 
the feelings of our population, that we hasten to mention it. 
At the moment the ex-king was escaping by the little low 
doorway nearly opposite the bridge, and going into the little 
voiture that waited for him, he found himself surrounded by 
the people. Two cuirassiers stationed in the Place de la 
Concorde rushed to his protection, and this brave regiment, 
without however, using their arms, opened a passage. An 
officer seeing the danger, cried out, 'Messieurs, spare the 
king !' To which a stentorian voice replied, ' We are not 
assassins — let him go.' 'Yes, yes; let him. go-^qu" il parte,' 
became the general cry. ' The people have been too brave 
during the combat not to be generous after the victory.' " 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 67 



The family were strangely scattered in their flight. The 
Duchess de Montpensier, the innocent cause of all the up- 
roar, scared from the palace by the inroads of the mob, wan- 
dered about the streets of Paris until five o'clock that day, 
accompanied by an old Spanish servant, who knew not a 
word of French. She was met in the Rue du Havre, close 
to the railway station, by a gentleman who, knowing her by 
sight, took upon himself to protect her and conduct her to his 
house, where she remained for some days. How she managed 
to stray unmolested and unrecognised so far from home, is a 
mystery to this hour. She says that, seeking to avoid the 
crowd, she turned down the streets which seemed most free, 
without caring whither they might- lead. She arrived in 
England on the 29th of February, accompanied by her hus- 
band's aid-de-camp. The Duchess of Orleans, after leaving 
the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday, proceeded with her 
children to the Invalides, where they passed the night. At 
five o'clock next morning they left in a hackney-coach, ac- 
companied by an aide-de-camp of the Governor of the In- 
valides, Marshal Molitor. She did not leave Paris until the 
following Wednesday, and was accompanied to the frontier 
by a distinguished member of the Provisional government, 
M. Marrast. The Provisional government sent the Duchess 
her jewels and a large sum of money. The Duke de Ne- 
mours and the Duke de Montpensier were both separated 
from their wives in the flight. Nemours arrived in London 
on Sunday the 27th of February, accompanied by his sister, 
her- husband the Duke of Saxe Coburg, and four children. 
So sudden had been the escape of the whole party, that no 
one of them came provided with a change of raiment. The 
Duchess de Nemours arrived at Portsmouth, on the 4th of 
March, under the escort of the Duke de Montpensier. 

On the evening of Friday, the 25th, order was, to a great 
extent, restored. The bank of France reopened. To the 
admirable conduct of the National Guard, and to the intre- 
pidity, energy, and good sense of the Provisional govern- 



58 



THE PRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 




Lamartine. 



merit, and especially to the determination and eloquence of 
M. Lamartine, belongs the credit of restoring tranquillity. 

The abolition of the punishment of death for political of- 
fences, and the readoption of the tricolour, which had for a 
while been supplanted by the ill-omened red flag, were pro- 
posed by Lamartine, and owed their success to his extraor- 
dinary eloquence and courage. Five times on Friday he 
addressed the people, still fierce with excitement, assembled 
under the windows of 'the Hotel de Ville. The "Presse" 
has reported one of these addresses:— 

" It is thus that you are led from calumny to calumny 
against the men who have devoted themselves, head, heart, 
and breast, to give you a real republic — the republic of all 
rights, all interests, and all the legitimate rights of the 
people. Yesterday you asked us to usurp, in the name of 
the people of Paris, the rights of 35,000,000 of men — to 
vote them an absolute republic, instead of a republic in- 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 59 



vested with the strength of their consent ; that is to say, to 
make of that republic, imposed and not consented, the -will 
of a part of the people, instead of the will of the whole na- 
tion. To-day you demand from us the red flag instead of the 
tricolour one. Citizens ! for my part, I will never adopt the 
red flag ; and I will explain in a word why I will oppose it 
with all the strength of my patriotism. It is, citizens, be- 
cause the tricolour flag has made the tour of the world, under 
the republic and the empire, with our liberties and our glo- 
ries, and that the red flag has only made the tour of the 
Champ de Mars, trailed through torrents of the blood of the 
people." 

The effect of this oratory was all powerful. At this part 
of the speech of M. de Lamartine, in that astonishing sitting 
of sixty hours, in the midst of an irritated crowd, every one 
was suddenly affected by his words : hands were clapped and 
tears shed, and they finished by embracing him, shaking his 
hands, and bearing him in triumph. In a moment after, 
fresh masses of people arrived, armed with sabres and bayo- 
nets. They knocked at the doors ; they filled the salles. 
The cry was, that all was lost; that the people were about to 
fire on or stifle the members of the Provisional government. 
M. de Lamartine was called for. He was supplicated to go 
once more, for the last time, to address the people. He was 
raised on a step of the staircase ; the crowd remained for 
half-an-hour without consenting to listen to him, vociferating, 
brandishing arms of all kinds over his head. M. de Lamar- 
tine folded his arms, recommenced his address, and finished 
by softening, appeasing, and caressing the intelligent and 
sensible people, and determining them either to withdraw, or 
to become themselves the safeguard of the Provisional go- 
vernment. 

On Saturday, the restoration of order was completed. 
The public Departments resumed their duties, and among 
them the department of Finance. It was only on the pre- 
vious Monday that the notice to pay the city taxes had been 
issued. The whole of the coming year's taxes derived from 



60 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



per-centage on rents of apartments and shopkeepers' licenses 
would thus fall into the hands of the new government — an 
enormous fund with which to begin. The million a month 
to the civil list had already been confiscated, or, as the or- 
donnance has it, "restored to the people" — a handsome ad- 
dition to the fund applicable to the relief of distress. The 
streets were partially cleared of the obstructions caused by 
the barricades, under the scientific direction of the students 
of the Ecole Polytechnique, in such a way as not to compro- 
mise the security against a surprise afi'orded by these popula-r 
fortifications. This enabled the country people to bring in 
provisions, of which there was an abundant supply ; and it 
allowed the vast number of coachmen and cabmen to resume 
their occupation. The law courts resumed their sittings ; the 
shops were opened ; every thing was done to calm apprehen- 
sion. 

On this day, the indefatigable Lamartine declared the 
Republic : he presented himself, with the other members of 
the government, on the steps of the H6tel de Ville, and thus 
addressed the multitude : — 

" Citizens ! The Provisional government of the Republic 
has called upon the people to witness its gratitude for the 
magnificent national co-operation which has just accepted 
these new institutions. (Prolonged acclamations from the 
crowd and National Guard.) 

" The Provisional government of the Republic has only 
joyful intelligence to announce to the people here assembled. 
Royalty is abolished. The Republic is proclaimed. The 
people will exercise their political rights. National work- 
shops are open for those who are without work. (Immense 
acclamations.) 

" The army is being reorganized. The National Guard 
indissolubly unites itself with the people, so as to promptly 
restore order with the same hand that had only the preceding 
moment conquered our liberty. (Renewed acclamations.) 

"Finally, gentlemen, the Provisional government was 
anxious to be itself the bearer to you of the last decree it 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 61 



has resolved on and signed in this memorable sitting — that 
is, the abolition of the penalty of death for political matters. 
(Unanimous bravos.) This is the noblest decree, gentlemen, 
that has ever issued from the mouths of a people the day 
after their victory. (Yes, yes !) It is the character of the 
French nation which escapes in one spontaneous cry from 
the soul of its government. (Yes, yes ! Bravo !) We have 
brought it with us, and I will now read it to you. There is 
not a more becoming homage to a people than the spectacle 
of its own magnanimity." 

Here the orator read the following noble proclamation: — 
"The Provisional government, convinced that greatness 
of soul is the highest degree of policy, and that each revolu- 
tion effected by the French people owes to the world the con- 
secration of an additional philosophical truth; considering 
that there is no more sublime principle than the inviolability 
of human life ; considering that in the memorable days in 
which we live, the Provisional government has remarked with 
pride that not a single cry for vengeance or for death has 
dropped from the mouths of the people ; declares — That in 
its opinion the punishment of death for political offences is 
abolished, and that it will present that wish to the definitive 
ratification of the National Assembly. The Provisional go- 
vernment has so firm a conviction of the truth that it pro- 
claims, in the name of the French people, that if the guilty 
men who have just caused the blood of France to be spilt, 
were in the hands of the people, it would, in their opinion, 
be a more exemplary chastisement to degrade them than to 
put them to death." 

The Provisional government were duly rewarded for this 
great act of clemency, by the confidence which it immediately 
inspired in the justness and moderation of their views. It 
was indeed " the noblest act that ever issued from the mouths 
of a people the day after their victory;" and it did undoubt- 
edly express the genuine, spontaneous sentiments of the vic- 
torious Parisians, and of Frenchmen generally. It is well- 
known that M. Guizot remained in a friend's house in Paris 



62 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OP 1848. 



for six days after the 24th of February, and that the Provi- 
sional government were fully aware of his place of conceal- 
ment, and that it was not till he was safe across the frontiers 
that they took formal steps for prosecuting him and his col- 
leagues. Now the populace, who so often intruded into the 
H6tel de Ville with clamorous importunities of all sorts, 
never once thought of urging the government to vindictive 
measures against the fallen Ministers. On the night of the 
24th, when the people were still flushed with the victory they 
had gained, an individual posted up at the corner of the Rue 
Richelieu a written paper, containing the name and address 
of the persons with whom MM. Guizot, Duchatel, and Hubert, 
had taken refuge. That indication was followed by an appeal 
to vengeance. Already the crowd was gathering round the . 
spot full of emotion, when a patrol of workmen advanced, 
with a corporal of the National Guard at its head. The 
latter approached, read the placard, and cried out, "My 
friends, they who make such dastardly denunciations have 
not fought in our ranks !" and he tore .down the paper amid 
the applause of all. 

We are inclined to think with a writer in the "Westmin- 
ster Review," that the abolition of the punishment of death 
for political offences probably contributed, more than any 
other act of the Provisional government, to cause the entire 
nation to accept the new men, as the indispensable necessity 
of the time, with an unanimity to which there is hardly a 
parallel in history. On the part of the army. Marshal Bu- 
geaud ; on the part of the clergy, the Archbishop of Paris ; 
gave in their adhesion to the new Republic. On the part of 
the middle classes, whether in Paris or in the provinces, and 
of the whole press, without a solitary exception, there does 
not appear to have been the hesitation of a moment. All 
seem to have felt by instinct, that whether or not the 
people were prepared for republican institutions, the time 
was come when a trial of them must be made ; for after the 
fall of a government which but a few days before had enjoyed 
the reputation of being one of the strongest in Europe, and 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



63 




Frangois Arago. 



then suddenly vanished like a mist, there could be no further 
hope of security for person or property under the protection 
of royalty. This feeling was put to the test by a feeble at- 
tempt on the part of the few remaining friends of the elder 
branch of the Bourbons, which ended in ridiculous failure. 

On Sunday the members of the Provisional government 
reviewed the National Guards, before the Column of July. 
From the steps of this column, Arago, the astronomer and 
statesman, proclaimed the Republic. In the evening there 
was a grand illumination. 

Beyond the walls of the capital, there was much wanton 
destruction of property during the revolution. Louis Phi- 
lippe's beautiful chateau of Neuilly was burned down ; but 
most of its contents were sent to the public treasury before 
the work of conflagration began. The wine-cellars having 
been broken open, many of the crowd drank to excess, and 



64 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OP 1848. 



being unable to leave the building were burned to death. 
The splendid mansion of Baron Rothschild, at Surrennes 
was destroyed, under the impression that it was the king's 
property. On the Northern Railway the damage done 
amounted to not less than $2,000,000. 

The close of the revolutionary week witnessed the return 
of order, as we have already stated ; the gradual restoration 
of confidence — too soon, alas ! to be again impaired — was the 
work of the succeeding week. The streets still presented a 
very bustling appearance, but one of a most satisfactory cha- 
racter, being chiefly occasioned by the active steps taken to 
repair the mischief done in the three days. The Provisional 
government freely took all unemployed workmen into their 
pay, and as an additional means of securing the tranquillity 
of the capital, there was created a Garde National Mobile of 
twenty-four battalions, to be clothed by the State, and paid 
at the rate of thirty sous daily per man. Twenty thousand 
of the most indigent and daring youth of Paris were quickly 
enrolled and marched off toward the frontiers. However 
objectionable these measures might be in the abstract, the 
strictest political economist can hardly deny their expediency 
under the special circumstances. Hunger is the most dan- 
gerous counsellor that ever infested a revolutionised city. 
Another wise act of largesse on the part of the government 
was the redemption, at the cost of the State, of all articles 
pledged subsequently to the 4th of February for sum^ not 
exceeding ten francs. The number of articles thus released 
amounted to one hundred thousand, at an averaged cost of 
seven francs each. 

Saturday, March 4th, was devoted to the obsequies of the 
victims who had fallen on the side of the people. Their re- 
mains were wrapped in tf^icoloured winding-sheets, and laid 
on fifteen open biers, each containing five or six bodies. 
Several corpses had been placed in the vaults beneath the 
Column of July on the preceding night, and those claimed by 
their families or friends had of course been given up for pri- 
vate interment. The public funeral, therefore, afforded no 



THE FKENCH KEVOLUTION OF 1848. 65 



opportunity for ascertaining the exact number of the slain, 
nor are we aware that this has been determined in any 
authentic manner. At first it was supposed that between 
five and six hundred had been killed on both sides ; a later 
estimate make the number less than two hundred : whereas a 
correspondent of one of the London daily papers states, that 
he was assured by a sergeant of the 14th regiment of the 
line (a detachment of which fired the fatal volley at the 
Foreign Office) that the killed in that regiment alone were 
more than two hundred. 

The burial solemnity consisted of a procession from the 
H6tel de Yille to the Madeleine ; a performance of funereal 
rites at that church; a procession to the Place de laBastile; 
and an interment of the dead in the vaults beneath the 
Column of July. The procession reached the Church of the 
Madeleine about noon. The church was hung with black 
drapery, tricoloured flags, and wreaths of immortelles; and 
inscribed over its entrance was, — Aux Citoyens morts pour 
la Liberie. A service was performed within. The route 
from the church to the Column of July, in the Place de la 
Bastile, was festooned continuously for the whole distance 
(nearly three miles) by tricoloured and black draperies.. 
These were supported by posts, on which were hung shields' 
of black cloth, inscribed with the words, — Respect aux mane» 
des vietimes des 22, 23, et 24 Fevrier. Flags waved from; 
the windows of every house on the route. The people as- 
sembled to view the spectacle by myriads, and as portions of 
the mass waved to and fro, the movement was like that of 
currents on the ocean. The day was beautiful, and a bril- 
liant sun shining on the sharp clear outlines of the white' 
Grecian church, on the lofty old-fashioned houses around it,, 
so picturesque in their complete contrast with it, and glancing 
from the forest of bayonets bristling among hundreds of tri- 
coloured flags, above the surface of the motley and closely 
packed crowd, of which no end was to be seen as far as the 
eye could reach, formed a spectacle that no city save Paris 
could furnish, and Paris only on such an occasion. 



Q6 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OP 1848. 



The work of demolition was finished ; that of construction 
was scarcely begun. The fetters had been removed from the 
press, and the great reign of the people secured by the esta- 
blishment of universal suffrage. But this was not government 
sufficient for the protection and security of society. A Na- 
tional Assembly was to be organized, and then a written 
constitution — liberty's favourite fortress — was to be framed 
and adopted. In the mean time, M. de Lamartine sent a 
circular to the diplomatic agents of the French Republic, 
giving them an account of the change in the political system 
of their country, and instructing them to use their best efforts 
for the preservation of peace. To the request of the Poles 
and others, that France should aid the oppressed of other na- 
tions, the wise and firm minister replied, that while wishing 
success to the efforts of patriots, the French would best serve 
all interests by remaining neutral. 

The following decree prescribed the manner of electing the 
Constituent Assembly which was to shape the new republican 
constitution. The time of holding the elections, which was 
at first appointed for the 9th of April, was* afterward fixed 
for the 23d and 24th:— 

"The Provisional Government of the Republic, wishing to 
hand over as soon as possible into the hands of a definitive 
government the powers which it exercises for the interest and 
by command of the people, decrees : — 

"Art. 1. The electoral cantonal assemblies are convoked 
for the 9th April next, to elect the representatives of the peo- 
ple at the National Assembly which is to decree the constitu- 
tion. 

" Art. 2. The election will be based on the number of the 
population. 

"Art. 3. The total number of representatives will be nine 
hundred, including Algeria and the French colonies. 

"Art. 4. They shall be divided among the departments, 
agreeably to the subjoined list. 

"Art. 5. The suffrage shall be direct and universal. 

"Art. 6. Every Frenchman twenty-one years of age is an 



THE FRENCn REVOLUTION OP 1848. 67 



elector, if he has resided in the commune for six months, and 
not judicially deprived or suspended from the exercise of his 
civil rights. 

"Art. 7. All Frenchmen Tvho have attained the age of 
twenty-five years, and not deprived or suspended of their civil 
rights, are eligible to be elected. 

"Art. 8. The ballot shall be secret. 

"Art. 9. All electors shall vote at the principal town of 
their canton by ballot. Each bulletin shall contain as many 
names as there shall be representatives to be elected in the 
department. No one can be elected representative who has 
not received two thousand votes. 

"Art. 10. Each representative shall receive an indemnity 
of twenty-five francs per day during the session. 

"Art. 11. An order from the Provisional Government will 
regulate the details of the execution of the present decree. 

"Art. 12. The National Constituent Assembly shall open 
on the 20th April. 

"Art. 18. The present decree shall be immediately sent 
into the departnfents, and published and posted up in all the 
communes of the Republic. 

"Done at Paris, by the Government in Council, this 5th 
March, 1848." 

On several occasions before the election, the government 
was in danger of being overthrown, and the capital drenched 
with blood, through the violence of the Socialists, and the 
imprudence of Ledru Rollin, the Minister of the Interior. 
Lamartine maintained his dignified position, refused to make 
any concession to the small factions, and being supported by 
the National Guard, triumphed. Attempts at insurrection 
were crushed. 

The elections passed ofi" quietly. The moderate republican 
party obtained a large majority of the deputies to the Assem- 
bly. Of thirty-four members returned for Paris and its de- 
partment, seven only were ultras, and among these the only 
Socialists were Louis Blanc and Albert. Lamartine was re- 



68 



IHE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 




Louis Blanc. 



turned for ten departments by an aggregate of two millions 
votes. 

When the result of the election was known, the anarchical 
faction flew to arms in Nantes, Amiens, Marseilles, Rouen, 
and in one or two other towns ; but in all except the last 
named, they were put down with more or less facility. The 
insurrection of Rouen was not subdued without much blood- 
shed and two days' hard fighting, (April 26 and 27,) in which 
grape and cannon-shot were copiously used by the troops. 
The clubs of Paris took fire at this news, and issued inflam- 
matory placards, denoulicing the National Guards of Rouen 
as assassins, the government as hostile to the people, and the 
elections as reactionary. In the council-room of the govern- 
ment, Louis Blanc moved that the two generals in command 
at Rouen should be arrested. The ferment continued to in- 
crease daily, and it was feared that the meeting of the repre- 
sentatives would be the signal for civil war. 

Nevertheless, on the 4th of May, the National Constituent 
Assembly was installed under the most flattering auspices ; 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OP 1848. 



69 




Albert 



and the Provisional government, in resigning its dictatorship, 
was enabled to declare, by the mouth of Lamartine : — 

"We have passed forty-five days without any other execu- 
tive force than that wholly unarmed moral authority which 
the nation was pleased to acknowledge in us. . . . We 
have traversed more than two months of crisis, of suspended 
employment, of distress, of elements of political agitation and 
social anguish, accumulated immeasurably in a capital of a 
million and a half of inhabitants ; we have traversed all this 
without having to grieve our property violated, or one life 
sacrificed to passion, or one proscription, one political im- 
prisonment, one drop of blood shed in our name in Paris ! 



70 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



Descending from this long dictatorship, we can go out and 
mingle with the people in the public streets, without fearing 
that any one shall call us to account in the name of a single 
citizen, and say to us, 'What have you done with him?' "* 

The general voice, and the wishes of a majority of the 
Assembly, designated Lamartine as the chief to whose hands 
should be committed the executive power of the republic. 
But he refused to accept that lofty station, and from that 
moment his popularity declined. The vilest slanders were 
hurled against this pure and noble statesman, but he main- 
tained his principles without faltering. His declaration that 
he would not become a member of any executive commission 
from which Ledru Rollin was excluded, though sprijiging from 
the best motives, alienated a large number of the moderate 
republicans, who despised Rollin. 

On the 10th of May, an executive committee of five mem- 
bers was elected by ballot in the Assembly, the number of 
voters being 794. 

Arago, 725 ; Garnier Pagfes, 715 ; Marie, 782 ; Lamartine, 
645 ; Ledru Rollin, 458. These votes marked the dissatis- 
faction with which the Assembly assented to a coalition be- 
tween the party of the majority and the red republicans. 

On the 15th of May, the socialists, headed by Blanqui, 
Barbes, Raspail, and Louis Blanc, endeavoured to force the 
Assembly into an adoption of their measures and into ex- 
tending aid to Poland. The chamber was invaded by the 
mob and a terrific scene ensued. But the National Guard 
and the Garde Mobile remained true to the friends of order. 
Arago and Duclerc, by* their exertions and personal exposure 
gave the troops confidence. The insurgents were dispersed, 
and their chiefs arrested. 

"It was not long before fresh commotions were occasioned 
in Paris by the election of eleven representatives in lieu of 
those who had resigned, or who, having been doubly returned, 
had chosen to sit for some other department. The ballot 

* "Revolutions of 184S>" by W. S. Cliase. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 184b. 



71 




^ Barbes. 

took place on Sunday, the 4th of June, without much excite- 
ment, and the result was made known on the 8th. The names 
of the successful candidates made up a list of the most mot- 
ley complexion, betokening the confusion into which public 
opinion had fallen. First stood Caussidi^re; then came 
Moreau, Goudechaux, and Changarnier, moderate repub- 
licans ; Thiers, dreaded as the ablest representative of the 
old system, was fifth. The next two were Pierre Leroux, the 
dreamy founder of the Humanitarian school, and Victor 
Hugo, an ultra democrat and socialist orator. Louis ^ Napo- 
leon Bonaparte was the eighth, and the list ended with La- 
grange, who had provoked the massacre of the Boulevard des 
Capucines; Boissel, the projector of the February banquet; 



72 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 




Goudechauz. 



and Proudhiomme, a subtle propounder of social paradoxus, 
one of whose maxims is, « that property is robbery." 

"Among the names that had been put forward was that of 
the Prince de Joinville ; and it was known that a large number 
of votes would be recorded in his favour. To prevent this 
unpleasant contingency, the Executive Commission took care 
to have a law passed, on the 26th of May, banishing the whole 
Orleans branch of the House of Bourbon, and rendering its 
members incapable of serving France in any capacity. 

"Louis Napoleon occasioned the government much more 
serious uneasiness. The law of banishment against the Bo- 
naparte family had been repealed; three of its members 
already held seats in the National Assembly ; and the empe- 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 73 




^ Proudhomme. 

ror's heir, elected by four different departments, including 
that of the capital, could only be excluded by a special act 
of ostracism. On the 12th, Lamartine gave notice of a mo- 
tion to that effect, and the whole Assembly rose and testified 
their approval in a shout of ' Vive la Bepuhlique F This 
■was done under a false impression that shots had been fired 
at the National Guard by persons who cried, < Vive VEm- 
pereur !' It was true that riots were committed, seditious 
cries uttered, and incendiary proclamations put forth by the 
prince's partisans ; but the only blood drawn was that of an 
awkward civic soldier, who wounded himself by the accidental 
discharge of his own pistol. The real facts being known, the 
Assembly voted on the 13th, by a vast majority, for the ad- 



74 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



mission of the citizen, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. On the 
15th, they showed every disposition to rescind that vote, in 
their indignation at a letter from the Prince, received that 
day by the President. The passage which gave so much 
offence was the following, If the people impose duties on 
me, I shall kiiow how to fulfil them ; but I disavow all those 
who have made use of my name to excite disturbance.' But 
all was made good again by another letter, dated London, 
June 15th, in which Bonaparte tendered his resignation rather 
than be the involuntary cause of disorder."* 

On the 12th of May, the first step toward the closing of 
the national workshops was taken. These had been insti- 
tuted to satisfy the demon of faction, and to supply the 
poor with bread. But their expense was a clog to the go- 
vernment. However, they were allowed to exist for some 
time longer, much diminished in extent. 

The Executive Commission, and especially Lamartine, 
have been most unjustly accused of not foreseeing and pro- 
viding against the outbreak of June. Lamartine distinctly 
foretold what was coming, and was indefatigable in his ef- 
forts to prevent the impending calamity. The means he 
proposed were twofold : — to concentrate a large military force 
in and round Paris, and to disperse the workmen through the 
provinces in small bodies, provided with steady employment 
of a useful kind. His anxiety to accomplish this last object 
appears to have blinded him to the iniquity of the scheme* for 
the appropriation of all the railways by the state. He was 
most earnest in recommending that measure as the only 
hopeful means of avoiding a bloody conflict, not considering 
that it wanted two conditions, without which it could only be 
an act of arbitrary spoliation. The price at which the rail- 
ways were to be taken out of the hands of their proprietors 
was to be fixed, not by an impartial jury, but by the govern- 
ment itself, and the shareholders were not to be paid in cash, 
but to be forced to sell on credit to an almost bankrupt state. 

* "Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 



THE FKENCH KEVOLUTION OF 1848. 75 



On the 20th of May, the government decreed that the 
garrison of Paris should consist of 20,000 men of the line, 
15,000 of the Garde Mobile, 2600 Kepublican Guards, and 
2850 Gardiens de Paris, besides 15,000 of the line in the 
various posts within a few hours' march of the capital : in all, 
54,650 bayonets. It was further ordered, that in case of 
serious danger, the Minister of War, General Cavaignac, should 
take command of the forces of every kind in Paris. Again, 
on the 8th of June, Lamartine used these remarkable words 
in council, — "We are approaching a crisis. It will not be a 
a riot, or a battle, but a campaign of several days, and of 
several factions combined. The National Assembly may, 
perhaps, be forced for a while to quit Paris. We must pro- 
vide for these contingencies with the energy of a republican 
power. The 55,000 men sufficient for Paris would not suffice 
to bring back the national representation into the capital. I 
demand besides a series of decrees of public security, that the 
Minister of War immediately order up to Paris 20,000 men 
more." This proposal was unanimously adopted : and thus, a 
fortnight before the insurrection broke out, the government 
had made arrangements to bring 75,000 bayonets to the support 
of the National Guard of 190,000 men. General Cavaignac 
carried the orders of the government into effect as fast as 
quarters could be provided. Lamartine every day inquired 
as to the arrival of the troops, and was told, " The orders 
have been given, and the troops are in movement." Taking 
into account the effective strength of the Garde Mobile, the 
Garde Republicaine, and the Gardiens de Paris, the effective 
number of the garrison in and around the capital at the end 
of June was 45,000 men. 

Meanwhile, the thunder-clouds were visibly gathering, but 
it was not expected that the storm would burst before the 
14th of July. On that day, the anniversary of the taking 
of the Bastile, the red republicans had arranged to hold a 
banquet, tickets for which were to be issued at the price of 
five sous each. By this means it was calculated that at least 
150,000 men would be brought together; and that, whether 



76 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



they dined or not, they would not separate without fighting. 
Disconcerted, however, by the active measures taken by the 
government to break up the Ateliers nationaux, certain of 
the conspirators resolved, suddenly and prematurely, on the 
22d of June, to begin the action on the following day. 

<■<■ On Thursday, the eve of the insurrection, at ten o'clock in 
the morning, M. Marie instructed M. Recurt, Minister of the 
Interior, to arrest fifty-six delegates of the Ateliers natio- 
naux, who were then in the Jardin des Plantes. These men, 
and the chiefs of the Society of the Rights of Man, were the 
actual leaders of the insurrection. The delegates were al- 
lowed to walk about openly all day, and the writs against 
them were not put into the hands of the Prefect of Police 
until noon on the 23d, when they were already behind the bar- 
ricades. That functionary has formally deposed, that had he 
been authorized to arrest the delegates and the chiefs of the 
club, ' he would undoubtedly have prevented the insurrection.' 
"Two plans for putting down the expected outbreak were 
severally proposed. The Executive Committee was for 
spreading the troops over the capital, and preventing the 
erection of barricades. General Cavaignac's system was the 
reverse of this, and consisted in concentrating his forces at 
certain points, and bringing them into action in large masses. 
The insurrections of July, 1830, and February, 1848, had 
been treated by the existing governments as a sort of larger 
street riots, to be quelled in a police fashion. He treated 
that of June as an outbreak of civil war, and met it in true 
order of battle. Those two examples proved to him, he said, 
<the necessity of not- spreading the troops through the 
streets, but of advancing them in compact bodies, and in such 
numbers that the insurrection should always be forced to give 
way before them. In such afiairs the least check is fatal to 
an army. Above all things, to keep inviolate the honour of 
the flag was the sure pledge of final success. The event has 
confirmed the correctness of these views.' General Cavaignac 
consulted his comrades, Lamoriciere, Bedeau, and Foucher, 
on this plan, and finding that they fully approved of it, he de- 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 77 



termined to act strictly upon it, but witliout disclosing it to 
the Executive Committee. ' He Tvas not sure that they, in 
their ignorance of military matters, would have approved 
of it ; or, if they had, they might have taken it on them- 
selves to carry it out, and perhaps failed.' 

" It was a necessary consequence of this system of tactics 
that the insurgents had ample time to choose their ground 
and fortify it. Their manner of doing this displayed, in a 
remarkable degree, that proficiency in the art of defence to 
which the Parisian populace had attained by long practice in 
street fighting. For the basis of their operations they had 
four main positions, two on the northern or right bank of the 
river, namely, the Clos St. Lazare, a little north of the Porte 
St. Denis, and the Place de la Bastile ; and on the left bank 
they had the church of St. Severin and the Pantheon. An 
imaginary line, running in a direction nearly north and south 
through the Clos St. Lazare and the Pantheon, and bisecting 
the old island city of Paris, represents very nearly the de- 
marcation between the insurgent and the governmental moie- 
ties of the capital. All east of that line, with the exception 
of the Hotel de Ville and its precincts, was a net-work of 
barricades, and every inch of the ground was disputed with 
desperate courage and pertinacity. 

" It was twelve o'clock on Friday, the 23d, before the first 
shot was fired. The battle was begun by the National Guard 
at the Portes St. Denis and St. Martin, from which the barri- 
caders were repulsed, after considerable loss on both sides. 
The fighting continued all day on both sides of the river, with 
great slaughter but little practical result, the insurgents being 
only driven from their more advanced positions to rally again 
in other places. About five o'clock General Cavaignac, ac- 
companied by Lamartine, Pierre Bonaparte, and other i-epre- 
sentatives, led an attack in person against the Fauboui'g du 
Temple. For three hom'S the barricades withstood the fire 
of four pieces of cannon ; and two generals and four hundred 
soldiers were killed or wounded in the conflict. The troops 
behaved with admirable steadiness throughout the day, and 



78 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



the young soldiers of the Garde Mobile especially distinguish- 
ed themselves. But the want of a sufficient number of troops 
occasioned loud and general complaints ; and accusations of 
imbecility, supineness, and treachery, were freely cast on 
the Executive Commission and the commander-in-chief. The 
proneness of the French to indulge in calumnious suspicions, 
and to find in enormous perfidy a key to whatever remains 
unexplained in the conduct of their public men, is one of the 
ugliest defects in the national character. 

"At four o'clock on Saturday morning the battle began 
again, and raged with intense vehemence on both sides of the 
river. Both parties had been reinforced during the night. 
National Guards had arrived from the departments, a regi- 
ment of the line from Orleans, other troops from the adja- 
cent garrisons, and cannon from Vincennes. The insurgents 
had also gained greatly in numbers, in the strength of their 
positions, and in the quantity of arms and ammunition. Barri- 
cades, ten or twelve feet high, and of great strength, crossed 
the streets at every dozen paces ; the houses too were, for 
the most' part, in the possession of the insurgents, and cover- 
ed with mattresses, bags of sand, and other protections 
against musketry, from behind which showers of missiles were 
poured down on the assailants. Besides this, they had eleven 
pieces of cannon ; but they do not appear to have made much 
use of them. 

<'At eleven o'clock the National Assembly passed a resplu- 
tion declaring Paris in a state of siege, and appointing Gene- 
ral Cavaignac, Dictator, with unlimited powers, civil and 
military. The Executive Committee instantly resigned. Orders 
were then issued that the National Guard should occupy the 
streets, prevent the assemblage of crowds, and watch over 
the safety of private property. The rest of the inhabitants 
were to remain at home, and keep their windows closed as a 
security to the soldiers in the streets that they should not be 
fired on from the houses. Every person out of uniform who 
was found abroad without a written pass was searched, and 
either taken prisoner or led by a National Guard to his own 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 79 



door. In pursuance of this judicious plan many persons were 
arrested in the act of conveying ammunition and other aid to 
the insurgents. At noon General Cavaignac sent a flag of 
truce to the insurgents, offering a general amnesty if they 
would yield before two o'clock. The offer was rejected with- 
out hesitation, or a moment's interruption of the firing. 

"During the earlier part of the day the fight raged chiefly 
in the city and on the southern bank of the river. To get 
possession of the Hotel de Ville and the Prefecture of Police 
was a cardinal point with the insurgents. Occupying the 
church of St. Gervais and its precincts, close to the Municipal 
palace, and half the bridges and buildings in the Isle du 
Palais, the least success in that quarter would have enabled 
them to close in on all sides, and completely invest the city. 
In Parisian warfare, the loss of the Hotel de Ville is what 
the loss of its colors is to a regiment in the field ; it was 
therefore a matter of primary importance to the government 
to pierce the enemy's lines at that central point, toward 
which all his efforts converged. The church of St. Gervais 
was taken after a heavy cannonade ; next the bridges were 
carried with great slaughter, and thus the means of commu- 
nication between the insurgents of the two banks was com- 
pletely cut off. Pursuing their success, the troops possessed 
themselves of the church of St. Severin, the head-quarters of 
the insurgents on that side. Their stronghold, the Pantheon, 
was carried at one o'clock at the point of the bayonet, after 
the great iron doors and railings had been broken by cannon. 
By four o'clock the government was master of the whole left 
bank of the river. 

" On the northern side the troops were hotly engaged all 
day in assailing the strong outworks of the insurgents in the 
Faubourgs Poissonniere and St. Denis, which were not car- 
ried till a late hour, and with great cost of life. Their de- 
fenders retreated to their central positions in the Clos St. 
Lazare, the Marais, and the Faubourg St. Antoine, which 
were so strong as to withstand every effort made against 



80 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



them by General Lamoriciere, wlio commanded in tlie north- 
ern districts. 

" The Clos St. Lazare is a wide, elevated plateau, covered 
Tfith building materials and half-built houses. In the middle 
stood a new hospital, not yet finished, which the insurgents 
made their citadel, while the church of St. Vincent de Paule 
and the Customs warehouses served them as outposts. Be- 
hind them they had the outer boulevards, strongly barricaded, 
and the city-wall, which they had loop-holed, and from be- 
hind which a number of men fired, in complete security, on 
the troops. The church was taken early on Sunday morn- 
ing. At one o'clock General Lamoriciere stormed the Cus- 
toms depot, after breaching it with cannon. Howitzers then 
swept the Clos St. Lazare, and the troops marching through 
divided the insurgents into two parts, which they drove before - 
them in difierent directions. By four o'clock the troops of 
the Republic were masters of this quarter, and General La- 
moriciere was now able to efi"ect a junction in the Place de la 
Bastile with the troops that had meanwhile been sweeping 
the ground up to that point from the Hotel de Ville. This 
latter was a service of extreme difficulty, and could hardly 
have been efi'ected at all without the aid of the sappers and 
pompiers to turn the barricades by cutting passages through 
the houses, and sometimes by blowing them up. Cannon 
was almost useless in the narrow and tortuous streets of this 
quarter. The insurgents had possession of nearly all* the 
houses, and had opened interior communications between 
them, so that they could pass to and fro as in covered ways. 
The whole neighbourhood was in fact one immense fortress, 
which it was necessary to demolish stone by stone. The be- 
siegers paid a heavy jsrice of blood for their victory. 

" A desperate struggle, continued to a late hour at night, in 
the Faubourg du Temple, concluded the operations of this 
most bloody day. On Monday morning the insurgents made 
their last stand in the Faubourg St. Antoine, beyond the 
Canal St. Martin. An armistice took place, and they sent a 
deputation to propose a surrender, on condition that they 



Hf 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 81 



should be allowed to retain their arms. General Cavaignac 
would accept nothing less than an unconditional surrender, 
and he allowed the insurgents until ten o'clock to deliberate. 
At that hour it was thought that the terms prescribed were 
agreed to, and some of the troops having got within the lines 
of the insurgents were fired on, and a great number of them 
killed. Hostilities were immediately renewed, and by one 
o'clock they terminated in the total discomfiture of the insur- 
gents. 

" The number of killed and wounded on both sides, as ascer- 
tained by actual reckoning, exceeded eight thousand; but, 
besides these, many perished of whom no accurate account 
could be taken. Multitudes of dead bodies were cast into the 
Seine before they were yet cold. The remains of others were 
found by the reapers in the fields around Paris. Nearly four- 
teen thousand prisoners were made by the government, and 
of these more than a thousand died of jail-fever. 

" Of eleven generals who commanded, two were killed, viz. 
Generals Negrier and Br^a ; and six were wounded, five of 
them mortally. These were, Duvier, Damesme, Koate, La- 
fontaine, Fouch^, and Bedeau, the last and only surviving one 
of whom suffered amputation of the thigh. Generals Lamori- 
ciere, Lehreton, and Perrot, escaped unhurt. The former 
had two horses killed under him. Old soldiers declare, that 
never in the battles of the Empire was the proportion of gene- 
rals killed and wounded so considerable, and that never were 
so many men killed at the attacks of forts and redoubts, as at 
the barricades of Paris in the terrible affair of June. 

" Nor were the victims in this hideous carnage such only as 
belonged to the guilty party, or to that of their armed oppo- 
nents, and to a class whose profession is to brave the chance 
of a violent death ; but men of peace were struck down in the 
performance of their generous mission to bring the misguided 
insurgents to reason, and to offer them promises of mercy. 
One member of the National Assembly, M. Bixio, was se- 
verely wounded while thus charitably employed; and two 
others, MM. Domes and Charbonnel, received wounds of 

6 



82 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 




General Negrier. 

whicli they died. But the death that produced the saddest 
and most profound impression, appalling even the host of his 
slayers, and filling their hearts with shame and contrition, 
was that of Denis August AfiFre, the good Archbishop of 
Paris. Desirous of putting an end to the horrors of the in- 
surrection, he went on the second day among the insurgents, 
accompanied by two of his vicars. The firing from the barri- 
cades ceased at the sight of a green branch which was carried 
before him. Some misunderstanding, however, caused a mus- 
ket to be discharged, which led to the resumption of the 
firing on both sides, just at the moment when the archbishop 
and his attendants were about to ascend a barricade. Unin- 
jured, however, by the fire, he descended into the midst of 
the insurgents; but while he was addressing them he was 
struck in the groin by a ball fired from a window. The arch- 
bishop's servant Pierre, who accompanied his master, was 
mortally wounded at the same barricade ; the two vicars who 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



83 




Archbishop Afifre. 

were witL. him escaped unhurt, but the archhishop expired on 
the 27th. The good shepherd had given his life for his 
sheep. 

" Treachery and cruelty characterized the warfare carried 
on by the insurgents. Seldom did they give quarter, and in 
many instances they butchered their prisoners with the 
atrocity of savages. The boy soldiers of the Garde Mobile 
were the special objects of their barbarous rage; the muti- 
lated body of one of those lads was seen on the principal 
barricade of the Faubourg St. Antoine, impaled on a stake; 
the bodies of five others were found in the Pantheon, hung up 
by the wrists, and hacked with sabres and bayonets. A wo- 
man, who was taken prisoner, confessed, with the most savage 
joy, that she had decapitated five officers of the Garde Mobile 
with a table knife. It is not true, however, as was at first 
given out, that the insurgents carried their cruelty to such a 
pitch of refinement as to use poisoned, or hacked, or jagged 



84 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



balls. The evidence of tlie surgeons who had care of the 
wounded, completely refutes that story; the only apparent 
grounds for which were, that the insurgents sometimes used 
balls that were defective in shape from the haste with which 
they were made, and that sometimes they used zinc and cop- 
per when lead failed them. To supply themselves with the 
latter metal they went down into the vaults under the Column 
of July, and carried away the leaden coffins, after throwing 
out the remains of the victims of 1830, and of February, 
1848. The insurgents made several attempts to set houses 
on fire by pumping spirits of turpentine upon them. In 
several places vitriol was thro-N\Ti from the windows on the 
troops.*" 

Assassinations were frequent long after the open contest 
had ceased. The troops shot many of their prisoners in re- 
taliation for the massacre of the soldiers who had fallen into 
the hands of the insurgents. 

This terrible insurrection was planned and carried out by 
the workmen alone. On their banners was inscribed the 
motto of their necessity, "Bread!" They believed that the 
struggle of February had resulted in benefiting the middle 
class alone ; and, stimulated by the fanatical socialist leaders, 
they determined to make an effort to gain power for the la- 
bouring mass. Their valour was worthy of a better cause 
than that of anarchy. More indomitable spirit was never 
displayed by any body of people. Still, if we contemplate, the 
consequences of their success, we cannot mourn that they 
were defeated. 

" On laying down his temporary dictatorship immediately 
after the pacification of the capital, General Cavaignac was, 
by the enthusiastic suffrage of the Assembly, appointed 
President of the Council, with power to nominate his own 
ministry. 

All requisite measures were taken to secure the peace of 
the capital and the provinces, and to allay the anxieties that 
were from time to time excited by rumours of fresh plots. The 

« "Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 85 



garrison of Paris was augmented and maintained on a war 
footing. The National Guard underwent a thorough purifi- 
cation : every man belonging to it who had not responded to 
the call to arms during the insurrection, was disarmed and 
dismissed the ranks. The 8th, 9th, and 12th legions, com- 
prising the men of the Marais, the Faubourg St. Antoine, and 
the Faubourg St. Marceaux, were disarmed and dissolved, and 
so also were twenty-seven companies of the other nine legions, 
and two of the suburban legions. The Ateliers nationaux 
were suppressed ; but, by a decree passed in the midst of the 
insurrection, three millions of francs were applied to the re- 
lief of the destitute inhabitants of Paris. The state of siege 
was prolonged until the 20th of October, and during its con- 
tinuance eleven journals were suspended, including LaPresse, 
the editor of which, M. Emile de Girardin, had been arrested 
on the 24th of June, by order of General Cavaignac, and kept 
in confinement for eleven days. A law for the regulation of 
the press was also enacted, and the responsibility of journal- 
ists was secured by the exaction of a large amount of caution- 
money, and by other stringent provisions. Lastly, the legal 
limitations of the right of association was defined ; and those 
clubs which were not suppressed were made liable to such 
reasonable restrictions as were requisite to the peace and 
safety of the community."* 

The number of the insurgents made prisoners (ten thousand 
eight hundred and thirty-eight) embarrassed the government. 
Six thousand two hundred and thirty-seven were set at liber- 
ty, four thousand three hundred and forty-six condemned to 
transportation, and two hundred and forty-five sent before 
courts-martial. The courts were overwhelmed with business 
for the remainder of the year. The Court of Inquiry, of 
which Odillon Barrot was president, excited a great feeling 
of indignation by its manifestation of personal hatred of the 
authors of the republic. Ledru Rollin, Louis Blanc, Causi- 
di^re, and Sobrier defended themselves with ability and elo- 
quence. But as they saw no chance of safety in the midst of 

* " Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 



86 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848» 




Emile de Giraidin. 



tlie general reaction, the three last fled to the frontiers, and 
did not stand a regular trial. Rollin was not prosecuted. The 
charges against him were made informally in the Assembly. 
In the mean time, the Assembly was engaged in discussing 
the draught of the Constitution. Lamartine, Servi^res, Du- 
faure, and other distinguished members, made effective speeches 
and carried through many of the prominent features of the 
government charter. When completed, the instrument was 
adopted by a vote of 737 to 36. A President, a Council of 
State, and one Chamber, were then constituted branches of 
the government. The president was to be elected for three 
years, and to be eligible for a second term of office. His 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



87 




Raspail. 

powers were very closely circuni scribed. The Assembly was 
to be permanent ; the new one was to be retm-nable the day 
after the old one expired ; it could not be prorogued by the 
president ; if it adjourned, it Avas to leave a committee to 
convoke it upon emergency. The power of this body em- 
braced the greater part of the functions of government. 

The 10th of December was the day fixed for the election 
of a president. Cavaignac was the candidate of the moderate 
republicans — Lamartine would not consent to be put in nomi- 
nation until a short time previous to the election. The 
monarchists of every shade gave their support to Louis Napo- 
leon Bonaparte ; while the ultra republicans cast their votes 
for Ledru Rollin, Raspail, and others of the same opinions. 

The result of the election was, as follows : — ^ 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



Louis Napoleon Bonaparte 5,534,520 

General Cavaignac 1,448,302 

Ledru RolUn 371,431 

Raspail 36,964 

Lamartine 17,914 

General Changarnier 4,687 

Sundry votes 12,434 

Number of votes actually given ,7,426,252 

Votes disallowed 23,219 

Number of voters who went to the polls in the \ ^ j.q >-, 

86 departments of France. / ' ' 

Sixty-seven thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven votes 
were cast in Algeria. Bonaparte had a majority of votes in 
84 out of 86 departments. Among the votes disallowed were 
1200 given at Brest for the Prince de Joinville. 

" It is probable that more than three-fourths of the whole 
adult male population of France voted on this occasion ; and 
never in history was so enormous a mass of people put at 
once in motion with such perfect order. Seven millions and 
a-half of men going to the poll at the same moment, without 
the least disturbance, was assuredly a grand sight and a great 
fact. The result, too, very strikingly illustrated one advan- 
tage of universal suffrage, for it showed beyond cavil that the 
newly-elected president was the choice of the people. He 
had a majority of nearly four to one over his nearest rival, 
and of more than two to one over all his rivals together. 

" The ceremony of proclaiming the President of the Republic 
was suddenly and unexpectedly accomplished on the evening 
of the 20th December. It appears that government had re- 
ceived tidings of a Bona-partist plot to seize the president on 
Ms way from the Assembly, and to convey him to the Tuile- 
ries with shouts of <■ Vive V Empereur !' In order to defeat 
all such projects, the report was industriously spread that the 
installation would not take place until after the lapse of some 
days ; and Paris, on the evening of the 20th, knew only by 
the cannon of the Invalides that the ceremony had been ac- 
tually completed. 

" The members of the National Assembly having taken their 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



89 




General Changarnier. 



places, and the report of the Electoral Committee having 
been read, General Cavaignac rose, and in a brief address, 
delivered with remarkable dignity, resigned, in his own name 
and that of his colleagues, the civil authority with which the 
Assembly had invested them. M. Marrast, the president, put 
the question of adopting the report, whereupon the whole 
Assembly, with the exception of a few on the extreme left, 



90 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 



rose and affirmed it by acclamation. M. Marrast then for- 
mally proclaimed Citizen Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte 
President of the French Republic from that day until the 
second Sunday of May, 1852, and called upon him to take 
the oath required by the constitution. M. Bonaparte then 
ascended the tribune ; and the President of the Assembly 
read the form of the oath, as follows : — 

" ' In the presence of God, and before the French people, 
represented by the National Assembly, I swear to remain 
faithful to the Democratic Republic, and to fulfil all the 
duties which are imposed upon me by the constitution.' 

" M. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, raising his hand, said with 
a loud voice, ' I swear it.' 

" At this moment, a salvo of artillery from the Invalides 
proclaimed the administration of the oath. 

^^ President Marrast. — 'We call God and men to witness 
the oath which has been taken. The National Assembly re- 
cords it, and orders that it shall be transcribed in the pro- 
ceedings, inserted in the Moniteur, published and promul- 
gated in the form of legislative acts.' 

" The President of the Republic, remaining in the tribune, 
then delivered the following address : — 

" 'The suffrages of the people, and the oath which I have 
taken, prescribe my future conduct : my duty is traced out, 
and I shall fulfil it 'as a man of honour. I shall see enemies 
of the country in all those who shall attempt to change by 
illegal means that which the whole of France has established. 
Between you and me, citizen representatives, there cannot be 
any real difference ; oifr wishes, our desires are the same. 
I, like you, wish to replace society on its basis, to confirm its 
democratic institutions, and seek all proper means for alle- 
viating the sufferings of that generous and intelligent people 
which has given me so shining a testimony of its confidence. 

« ' The majority which I have obtained not only fills me with 
gratitude, but also gives to the new government the moral 
force without which there is no authority. With peace and 
order, our country can raise itself again, can heal its wounds. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848. 91 



bring back those men Avho have been led astray, and calm 
their passions. 

" ' Animated by this spirit of conciliation, I shall call around 
me men honourable, capable, and devoted to their country; 
assured that, maugre the diversities of political origin, they 
will agree in emulating your endeavours for the fulfilment of 
the constitution, the perfecting of the laws, and the glory of 
the Republic. 

" ' The new administration, in entering upon the conduct of 
affairs, must thank that which preceded it for the efforts 
which it made to transmit intact the power of maintaining 
the public tranquillity. The conduct of the honourable 
General Cavaignac has been worthy of the loyalty of his 
character, and of that sense of duty which is the first quality 
in the chief of a state. 

" 'AYe have, citizen representatives, a great mission to ful- 
fil — it is to found a Republic in the interest of all, and a go- 
vernment just and firm, which shall be animated by a sincere 
love of progress, without being either reactionary or Utopian. 
Let us be men of our country, not men of a party; and, by 
the help of God, we shall be able at least to do some good, 
if we are not able to do great things.' 

" The speech was received with general marks of approba- 
tion, the Avhole Assembly rising with cries of ' Vive la He- 
pubUque!' M. Louis Bonaparte having come down from the 
tribune, went up to General Cavaignac and shook him cor- 
dially by the hand. The new president was then met by M. 
Odillon Barrot and his friends of the Right, who escorted 
him from the hall to the Palace of the Elysee National [ci- 
devant Bourbon,) where he took possession of his oflScial re- 
sidence, held a sort of lev^e, and slept in the bed-chamber 
last occupied by his uncle, the Emperor, in Paris. 

" The following is the ministry that evening gazetted : — 
Odillon Barrot, President of the Council and Minister of 
Justice ; Drouyn de Lhuys, Foreign Affairs ; Leon de Male- 
ville, Interior ; Hippolyte Passy, Finance ; Leon Faucher, 
Public Works ; Bixio, Commerce ; General Rulhi^res, War ; 



92 THE FRENCH EEVOLUTION OF 1848. 



De Tracy, Marine. By a decree in the same Gazette, Gene- 
ral Changarnier was appointed Commander-in-chief of the 
National Guard and Garde Mobile of the Seine, and of all 
the regular troops of the first military division. Another 
decree named Marshal Bugeaud Commander-in-chief of the 
Army of the Alps. Among other appointments which fol- 
lowed were those of the ex-King of Westphalia, < the Gene- 
ral of Division, Jerome Bonaparte,' to be Governor of the 
Invalides ; and of the president's cousin, M. Jerome Napoleon 
Bonaparte, to be Ambassador to England. 

" The bourgeoisie now sang jubilee : Redeunt Saturnia 
regna.^ The revolutionary cycle was closed, and things had 
come round to the point from which they started ten months 
before. On the 24th of February, M. Odillon Barrot was 
sent for by the king ; on the 24th of December, the same 
M. Barrot was sent for by the President of the Republic. "f 

There existed a Constitution and an Assembly. But the re- 
turn to despotism was resolved ; and it was not long before 
the freedom for which so much blood had been shed became 
a shadow — a name, bright, but without substance. Rights, 
oaths, and solemn limits all crumbled beneath the wheels of 
the red Juggernaut of selfish ambition. 

* The Golden Age returns, f "Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 



NtW YORK, N. Y, 
LIBRARY 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



93 







Garibaldi. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 

For many years previous to 1848, a strong party existed 
throughout the Italian states, anxious to secure for Italy, 
union, independence, and constitutional freedom. This party 
had active, eloquent, and determined leaders, who waited but 
the shock of revolution in France or Austria to strike an 
open and vigorous blow for the establishment of their fa- 
vourite government. 

From the outset, the year 1848 was marked by important 
events in Italy. On the 12th of January, the fSte-day of 
King Ferdinand of Naples, the people of Palermo and all 
the great towns of Sicily, rose simultaneously, and drove out 
the Neapolitan troops. On the 28th, the Neapolitans re- 
ceived a constitution modelled on the French charter of 
1830, but in some respects more liberal. The Sicilians were 



94 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



offered their share of this constitution, but they refused to 
accept it. All the royal troops sent against them were de- 
feated. They elected their own parliament, which was opened 
at Palermo on the 25th of March by Ruggiero Settimo, 
President of the Provisional government ; and on the 13th 
of the following month, the deposition of King Ferdinand 
and the independence of Sicily were formally decreed. 

In Tuscany, a series of liberal measures were crowned, on 
the 1st of February, by the issue of a constitution better than 
any of the others granted by the former native princes of 
Italy to their subjects, and in one item superior to that framed 
by the Sicilians for themselves. The Tuscan constitution 
secures freedom of commerce and toleration of all religions; 
whereas, under the other four Italian constitutions the only 
religion recognised and permitted is the " Christian Catholic 
Apostolical Roman." The Sardinian kingdom was the next 
to obtain a constitution, which was published on the 5th of 
March, and Count Cesare Balbo, a well-known writer and 
statesman, was appointed to form a responsible cabinet. The 
Piedmontese constitution is like the Neapolitans in its promi- 
nent features ; but the king reserved to himself more power. 
The cardinal point in the qualification of electors was the 
payment of taxes of an amount to be determined by an elec- 
toral law. The king, at the same time reduced the price of 
salt, a state monopoly. 

Warned by the direction of the popular current, the pppe 
gave the Romans a constitution, which was proclaimed on the 
15th of March. The most notable provisions of this consti- 
tution were as follows :-^The College of Cardinals was retain- 
ed ; and there was also a Senate and a Council of Deputies. 
The senators were appointed for life by the pope, and they 
were chosen from among lawyers and ecclesiastical officials, 
and persons possessing an income of 4,000 scudi (about 
$5,000) per annum. The Council of Deputies was elected in 
the ratio of one deputy to every 30,000 souls. A small pro- 
perty qualification was imposed upon electors and candidates. 
The Roman Catholic faith was indispensable in all. The two 




Admiral Ruggiero. 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



coiincils had the control of secular matters, but they were 
precluded from interfering in ecclesiastical affairs. The 
taxes were under the control of the deputies. The College of 
Cardinals and the Privy Council administered affairs during 
an interregnum. On the day of the proclamation of this 
constitution, the Jesuits were ordered to withdraw from the 
papal dominions. 

Toward the close of 184T, it occurred to the people of the 
Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, that while they were unable to 
cope in arms with Austria, they might damage her finances 
by abstinence from tobacco, snuff, and the lottery, which she 
monopolized. Accordingly, on the 1st of January, 1848, no 
one was to be seen smoking in the streets except the Austrian 
soldiers and their friends. The populace, of course, was not 
slow to manifest its displeasure against those who refused to 
take the national pledge ; crowds gathered around the 
smokers, insisting tliat they should lay aside their cigars, 
sometimes civilly, sometimes Avith cries and hisses. Quarrels 
arose, and the soldiers began to act with their usual brutality. 
Count Casati, the Podesta of Milan, remonstrated with the 
police and soldiery on their violence. Pretending not to re- 
cognise him, they arrested him and kept him a prisoner, 
until the municipal council demanded his release. 

The Austrian authorities then determined to act upon the 
theory of Marshal Radetsky, that " three days of bloodshed 
yield thirty years of peace." To give the soldiers the 'ne- 
cessary fury, a report was spread that a great conspiracy 
had been discovered in the city against the military ; and a 
handbill, full of insults- and threats, purporting to be clan- 
destinely published by the Milanese, was circulated. No 
efforts were made to discover the authors of this offence. 
This was a blunder of the police. To be consistent, they 
should have maintained their rigorous press laws. 

On the morning of the 3d of January, the soldiers Tvere 
amply supplied with brandy. As the day advanced, they 
appeared in the streets, drunk and furious, and strove to 
provoke the Milanese to breaches of the peace. Being un- 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 97 



successful in this, thej, Avhen evening came, drew their swords 
and struck all who crossed their paths. Sixty-one persons 
were carried to the hospital, all more or less wounded, some 
mortally. Among the latter, was the Councillor Manganim, 
an old man and a sworn friend of Austria. All Italians 
were exasperated at this deliberate enormity, and the clergy 
of Milan boldly denounced the dreadful crime. 

Five days after the massacre of Milan, another outrage 
was committed in Pavia. The students of the University 
were following the corpse of one of their companions to the 
grave, when they were met and grossly insulted by two Aus- 
trian ofiBcers. The patience of the young men gave way and 
they attacked the oflScers. Soldiers came to the aid of the 
dastardly commanders. The students suffered severely in 
the affray, but one of the officers was killed upon the spot 
and the other mortally wounded. Many other outrages of 
the same nature were perpetrated in the other Austrian gar- 
risons, but those we have mentioned will suffice to show the 
savage spirit of the rulers of northern Italy. To quell the 
boiling indignation excited by their misdeeds, the Austrian 
authorities had recourse to their usual nostrums — brute force, 
diabolical lies, and pettifogging tyranny. Martial law was 
proclaimed, and multitudes were visited with fines, imprison- 
ment, or exile. 

When the Milanese received the news of a revolution in 
.Vienna, they flocked to the government-house and demanded 
the release of all political prisoners, and the formation of a 
National Guard. The soldiers on duty at the palace, fired a 
volley over the heads of the crowd as it is said ; at all events, 
no one was wounded. The crowd began to waver, when a 
boy of sixteen drew out a pistol and fired at the soldiery, 
shouting, "Vive I'ltalia!" The cry kindled a blaze of en- 
thusiasm which was irresistible. The crowd rushed forward. 
The guard was overpowered. O'Donnel, the vice-governor, 
was made prisoner ; and the tri-colour banner, was planted 
on the palace. Some Croats afterward fired- on the people, 
and this was the signal for a general rising. Instead of 



98 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



sending all his force to clear the streets, Radetsky drew his 
men within their barracks. By the time he had made up his 
mind for actioij, the streets were barricaded, and it was im- 
possible to retake the city without a bombardment. The 
marshal's hesitation was caused by his want of information 
concerning the state of things at Vienna. He was afraid 
that a constitutional government at home might call him to 
an account for a second massacre of the Milanese. 

The people were poorly supplied with arms, yet they dis- 
played no hesitation in encountering a disciplined army of 
twelve thousand men. The conflict was kept up day and 
night until the 23d. The great object of the Milanese was 
to get possession of one of the gates, in order to communi- 
cate with their friends of the neighbouring country. On the 
evening of the 23d, they succeeded at the Porta Tosa. A 
set of brave young fellows made up bundles of fascines, 
which they rolled before them, firing from the shelter thus 
afforded, while a flanking fire from the houses, covered their 
advance. In this way, after long efforts, the artillery-men 
were picked off one by one, until at length, a dash was made, 
and the gate and the houses covering it were set on fire. Ra- 
detsky's position was no longer tenable. He therefore began 
his retreat towards Verona. 

Most of the other cities of Lombardy followed the example 
of Milan, and Venice not only revolted, but declared itself a 
republic. Mantua and Verona remained to the Austrians. 
As soon as Radetsky was established within the walls of 
Verona, he was safe, and the cause of independence was vir- 
tually lost ; for that city was the military centre of the 
Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. 

On the day that Radetsky began his retreat, the Piedmon- 
tese army, under Charles Albert, crossed the frontier, and on 
the 27th its vanguard arrived under the walls of Milan. 
The king, however, declined to enter the city, "until he 
ehould have become worthy of so brave a people by gaining 
a victory over the Austrians." 

The Provisional government of Lombardy included Casati, 




Attack upon the Porta Cosa at Milan. 



100 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



Borromeo, Litta, and other men of worth and talent, wlio 
had assumed authority while the fight was pending in the 
streets of Milan. 

Often afterward did they take credit to themselves for 
the civic heroism they displayed in thus exposing themselves 
to the superior danger of such a position ; for, said they, had 
the Austrians been successful, our lives would have been the 
first forfeited. But they were not so brave as they wished 
themselves to be thought ; in fact, their official conduct war- 
rants the belief that their chief care was to make themselves 
safe in any contingency. During the whole struggle they 
abstained from every kind of measure that could be regarded 
as seriously imperilling the Austrian interest ; and when the 
war was over, they might fairly represent themselves to the 
victor as loyal subjects, who, by appearing to fall in with the 
popular humour, had been enabled to control it and render its 
outbreaks harmless. Some of the members of the Provisional 
government were Monarchists, others were Kepublicans ; for 
their mutual convenience they agreed upon a perfectly neu- 
tral policy — the bane of all popular enthusiasm. Their ad- 
ministration was a series of enormous blunders in matters of 
police, finance, military affairs, &c. The direction of the 
police was committed to a triumvirate that really swayed the 
whole political power of the state, and the ablest member of 
which was Baron Sopransi, a zealous partisan of Austria, and 
the brother-in-law of General Welden, by whose orders, and 
under whose own eyes, seven-and-twenty Lombard volunteers 
were first mutilated and then shot in the town ditch of Trent. 

The parishes of Lombardy are grouped together in dis- 
tricts, over each of which there is a commissary of police, who 
exercises a dictatorial power like that of the Turkish cadis. 
The first act of the revolutionary government should have 
been to remove these men, yet they were all allowed to re- 
main and plot for the return of their old masters. The coun- 
try was overrun with vagabonds whom the Austrians let loose 
from the bagnio of Mantua, and with pretended deserters 
from the Austrian troops. In many a district chief town the 



THE rrALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 101 



commissary had a little prjetorian guard, composed of these 
and other bad characters ; and by this means the Austrians 
were regularly informed of all the movements of the Lom- 
bards, while the latter remained in ignorance of Avhat it most 
imported them to know. It was also in consequence of this 
permanent conspiracy, tolerated by the government, that the 
provender and other things intended for the Piedmontese army 
fell several times into the hands of the enemy ; many villages 
were burned, and the lives of land owners were threatened by 
revolted peasants. 

There is a powder manufactory at Lembrate, a few leagues 
from Milan. One morning in the beginning of May, when 
no one dreamed of the possible approach of the Austrians, 
it became known in the capital that the Lembrate magazine 
had been attacked during the night by a party of Austrians 
in disguise. Who then had guided them ? How had they 
advanced almost to the gates of Milan without any notice 
being taken of their m^rch ? The mystery remained unsolved ; 
and the director of the police maintained a disdainful silence. 
Another day the generale was suddenly beaten, and the 
National Guard hurried to the city jail, from which five hun- 
dred thieves and robbers were in the act of making their 
escape. These fellows were all armed with muskets, and had 
their pockets filled with ammunition ; they had seized the 
keepers of the prison and locked them up. After promptly 
quelling the revolt, and securing all the prisoners, the Na- 
tional Guard handed the keepers over to justice, as guilty of 
having armed the culprits, and connived at their escape. 
There was the more ground for such a suspicion, because the 
prison keepers had not been changed after the revolution ; 
and a considerable amount of Austrian coin was found in the 
pockets of both prisoners and keepers. The matter was 
nevertheless allowed to drop. 

The finances were not better administered than the police : 
they were managed on a bad system, and by knavish hands. 
The most shameful embezzlements were practised in the 
ministry of war. The able and earnest Count Litta, who at 



102 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



first held that office, having been forced to resign, he was 
succeeded by Collegno, an honest but weak man, whose passive 
character was more acceptable to the Provisional government. 
The paymaster-general was a merchant notorious for having 
committed four fraudulent bankruptcies. The Lombard army 
and the free corps wanted shoes, coats, great-coats, and almost 
every object of prime necessity. The arming of the people was 
stopped for want of money, and yet the incomes of all the 
affluent families were poured into the public treasury. No- 
thing was talked of in the town but the audacious robberies 
committed by one or another member of the administration. 
The whole population of Lombardy were eager to take up 
arms in the cause of independence. In twenty-four hours an 
army of partisans might have been set on foot that would have 
been a most useful auxiliary to the regular forces. But every 
' man who offered himself in the capacity of a volunteer was 
treated with indignity by the Piedmontese officers, and by 
the Lombard ministry of war, which was entirely subservient 
to the King of Sardinia. Those volunteers who had been 
accepted in the first days of the revolution were left without 
pay or provisions, exposed to needless and profitless dangers, 
and persecuted in every way that low cunning could con- 
trive. 

"When the Piedmontese army reached Milan on the 27th 
of March, Radetsky was still within a distance of five and 
twenty miles of the city. Had Charles Albert made tw6 or 
three forced marches, he might easily have prevented the 
concentration of the Austrian forces, and extinguished the 
war. Instead of this he allowed Radetsky to pursue his march 
without molestation for a week, and shut himself up securely 
in Verona. On the 8th of April, Charles Albert forced the 
Austrian lines on the Mincio in three places between Mantua 
and Verona. He then crossed the Adige at Pontone to the 
north of Verona, cutting off Radetsky from the valley of the 
Trent, and from a junction with Nugent, who was advancing 
to his aid form the north-east. After some manoeuvring in 
this direction, the Piedmontese army was obliged to fall back 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 103 



on its former position, and on the 22d, Nugent brought Ra- 
detsky a reinforcement of 15,000 men. 

" Durando, the commander of the 14,000 Roman auxiliaries, 
might have prevented this calamity, but evidently would not. 
Durando was a brave officer, of unblemished reputation, who 
had served with distinction in the civil wars of Spain ; but 
the hopes excited by his name were in all respects miserably 
disappointed. His headquarters were at Ferrara, from which 
no entreaties of the Milanese could induce him to move, until 
his troops themselves forced him to cross the Po, and march 
against- the enemy. Immediately there appeared a manifesto 
from Pius IX., announcing that the sole mission of his army 
was to defend the integrity of the Roman territory, and re- 
iterating the injunction laid upon the general never to assume 
the offensive against Austria. This manifesto, which was 
said to have been followed by secret orders to General Du- 
rando to fall back upon Ferrara, excited a formidable com- 
motion in Rome and the provinces, and an insurrection seemed 
imminent. Charles Albert sent word to Durando that, having 
actually entered upon the theatre of the war, he had thereby 
become bound to obey no other orders than those of the com- 
mander-in-chief, namely, himself, Charles Albert, and must 
therefore march, without regard to any injunction to the con- 
trary which he might receive from other quarters. The 
Roman army supported the protest of Charles Albert, and 
the population of Rome insisted that the pope should retract 
his manifesto. Durando resolved to march, and was some 
days afterward authorized to do so by Pius IX. himself. 
There is reason to fear, however, that the pope's secret orders 
remained still in force. No other supposition can afford a 
plausible explanation for his general's subsequent conduct. 
We cannot acquit them both ; we must condemn the one or 
the other. Either the pope was guilty of duplicity, or Du- 
rando of base perfidy. 

"After crossing the Po, the Roman general regulated his 
movements with great exactness by those of Nugent, advanc- 
ing as the latter retired, retrograding as he advanced, and 



104 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



always studiously shunning an engagement ; while the Aus- 
trians devastated every thing in their way, and seized town 
after town. At length, having seen Nugent make his unop- 
posed entry into Verona, Durando wheeled round and took 
up his quarters in Vicenza, which had sustained a bomhard- 
ment of several hours by Nugent, and, with the help of some 
corps of volunteers under General Antonini, had compelled 
him to raise the siege. 

"Meanwhile Charles Albert had laid siege to Peschiera on 
the 18th of May. The Austrians attempted a diversion for 
its relief, but were foiled and beaten at Goito. Peschiera 
was taken on the 30th, after two days' fighting, and Charles 
Albert established his headquarters there. While he was 
busy pushing his conquest farther north along the banks of 
the Lago di Garda, Radetsky made an unexpected sortie from 
Verona, and appeared before Vicenza with 30,000 men. The 
King of Sardinia, who had just taken Rivoli after a sangui- 
nary battle, sent a courier to Durando to know how long he 
could hold out; ' Six or eight days, at least,' was the reply; 
and Charles Albert took his measures accordingly to succour 
the town. No attempt was made to prevent the Austrians 
from getting possession of the heights that commanded the 
town. This was a misfortune, but it was not irreparable. 
General Durando seemed to think otherwise, for the bom- 
bardment was no sooner begun than he hoisted the white flag. 
The citizens instantly compelled him to withdraw it and con- 
tinue the fight ; but, in the very midst of the engagement, 
the unlucky white flag again appeared on another side of the 
town. The enraged inhabitants fired upon it and brought it 
down; but though the sign of surrender fell, the thing it 
represented was realized; the town capitulated after eight 
hours' fighting, with an army within its walls for its defence, 
and another army at the distance of a few hours march to 
succour it. Durando had stipulated that he should be allowed 
to quit the city with his soldiers and such of the citizens as 
chose to accompany him, with arms and baggage, and he 
engaged for himself and his troops not to take up arms against 
Austria for three months. 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 105 



" Thinking that the Austrians were still before Vicenza, 
Charles Albert marched against Verona on the 12th of June ; 
but already Radetsky had returned thither, and the Piedmon- 
tese were compelled to retire within their lines. In the sub- 
sequent part of the month Radetsky captured Padua and 
Palma Nuova, and made prize of a large quantity of artillery 
and warlike stores. The road to Vienna and Innspriick now 
lay open to him, and he was master of the whole Venetian 
territory, with the exception of the capital. Thither Gene- 
ral Pepe, the commander of the Neapolitan contingent, re- 
tired. The regular soldiers under his command left him, 
obeying the order for their recall issued by the King of 
Naples. A few legions of volunteers alone remained with 
him ; a third at least of those that had entered Lombardy 
had returned home in disgust, and told their countrymen 
who were prepraing to march for the seat of war, ' They do 
not wish for us there. "Why should we thrust our services 
upon them against their will ?' " 

"In the beginning of July we find the Piedmontese army 
occupying a line of about thirty miles in length, — from near 
Mantua on its right, to Rivoli on its left. The headquarters, 
which had been at Peschiera, were removed to Vallegio, and 
afterward to Riverbella, and the strength of the army was 
gradually accumidated on the right wing in order to invest 
Mantua, while the left wing was most imprudently weakened. 
The lines of Rivoli were not defended by more than three 
thousand troops, and those of Somma Campagna, extending 
from Bussolongo on the Upper Adige, to Vallegio on the 
Mincio, by not more than five thousand. 

^^ If the siege of an impregnable place like Mantua served no 
other purpose, it at least enabled Charles Albert to rid him- 
self of most of his remaining auxiliaries."* 

The students of the University of Pavia, the Tuscan volun- 
teers, and about one hundred Swiss, were barbarously sacri- 
ficed by this miserable commander. 

* «'Kevolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 



106 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 




Attack upon the heights between Bussolongo and Vallegio. 

Radetsky seized the game thrown within his reach. He 
succeeded by well-contrived feints in keeping Charles Albert's 
attention fixed upon the south, while the Austrians quietly 
passed the Upper Adige, at the foot of the mountain that 
overlooked Rivoli, and had already descended on La Corona 
before the main body of the Piedmontese became aware of 
the movements. All the lines of Rivoli were soon carried. 
General Aspre, with 25,000 Austrians, assaulted the lines of 
Somma Campagna, which were defended by only five thou- 
sand Piedmontese. After a gallant struggle, the Piedmon- 
tese gave way. The Austrians regained the whole terrritory 
between the Upper Adige and the Lago di Garda and the 
Mincio, from the foot of Montebaldo, and from Bussolongo 
to Vallegio, Peschiera being placed in a state of complete 
isolation. 

Charles Albert at' the head of 30,000 men attacked the 
heights between Bussolongo and Vallegio on the morning of 
the 26th of July. The battle lasted from five in the morning 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 107 

until five in the evening, the Piedmontese fighting with despe- 
rate courage until Radetsky came up with a reserve of nearly 
20,000 men from Verona, when they were compelled to give 
way. The Austrians obtained a decisive victory. 

Charles Albert retreated to Milan. His army was reduced 
to 20,000 men. But the Milanese prepared for a vigorous 
defence, and with the aid of the king, hoped to maintain their 
city against the Austrians. They were doomed to disappoint- 
ment. Charles Albert entered .into a capitulation with Ra- 
detsky, and set out for his own dominions. On the 7th of 
August, the Austrian marshal again ruled in Milan. Two 
or three days afterward, an armistice of forty days, between 
the Sardinians and the Austrians, was published. It restored 
the status quo ante helium. But although the Piedmontese 
evacuated Venice, the city maintained its republicanism as 
well as its independence. 

Parma and Modena again adopted the Austrian system, 
and General Welden even made an incursion into the Lega- 
tions and occupied Bologna. The inhabitants, however, ex- 
pelled him. The pope remonstrated, and Welden was cen- 
sured and recalled. 

About two-thirds of the inhabitants of Milan evacuated the 
city as the Austrians entered it. The convicts of Porta Nuova 
were set at liberty and joined the soldiers in the work of plun- 
dering the deserted houses, the churches, and the national 
museums. Generals Rivaira and Roger, detained in Milan by 
illness, were condemned to death. The process of confisca- 
tion being inconvenient to the authorities, recourse was had 
to a more profitable system of forced contributions, the man- 
agement of which was intrusted to a committee, headed by 
that very Baron Sopransi, who was the director of the 
Milanese police under the Provisional government. On the 
11th of November, Radetsky issued a decree, in which he 
called upon some two hundred families to supply him with 
200,000 livres. Such was the order reigning in Milan. 

"The revolt of Venice, like that of Milan, immediately 
followed the news of the revolution in Vienna, which was 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 109 



published by Count Palfy, the governor, in the theatre on the 
evening of the 17th of March. Next morning the people 
congregated in St. Mark's Place, and effected by force the 
deliverance of their venerated leaders, Manini and Tom- 
maseo, whose civic virtue had been rewarded by Austria ac- 
cording to her wont. As public functionaries they had dared, 
in December, 1847, to address memorials to the Austrian 
government, praying that it would perform its own promises 
and observe its own laws. For this offence they were thrown 
into prison, from which they were released by their country- 
men to become, one of them president and the other minister 
of the resuscitated Republic. The expulsion of the Aus- 
trians was effected at Venice with even more sm-prising facility 
than at Milan. Marinowich, the commander of the arsenal, 
was slain in the first outbreak, and Count Zichy, the military 
commander, whom seven-and-twenty years' residence in 
Venice had made more than half Italian in feeling, withdrew 
his troops without a blow. The Republic of St. Mark was 
unanimously proclaimed ; but the Venetians were censured as 
schismatics by the predominant party, which at that time ad- 
vocated the scheme for one united kingdom of Upper Italy ; 
Manini was induced to surrender the government to a Sar- 
dinian commissary ; Charles Albert lent the city a small sum 
of money and a garrison of two thousand men, and for the 
first time in the history of Italy the cross of Savoy super- 
seded the winged lion of the Republic. Upon the defeat of 
the Sardinian army, however, the people withdrew the con- 
ditional allegiance they had plighted to a sovereign who 
merited neither their respect nor their gratitude, and once 
more they proclaimed the independent government of their 
own worthy political chief, Manini. 

"To meet the increased demand on her impoverished ex- 
chequer, Venice began by applying to all the Italian towns, 
and to some foreign ones, for a loan ; subscriptions were 
everywhere opened, but they remained almost blank. It was 
then proposed to pawn some of the magnificent objects of art 
with which Venice abounds, but the administration sternly 



110 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



withstood every proposal of the kind. Meanwhile the abso- 
lute cessation of all trade and employment demanded the 
most strenuous efforts to succour the poorer classes. The 
Venetian capitalists promptly responded to the call. The 
government issued bills for four millions of florins, the pay- 
ment of which was guaranteed by the personal liability of 
twenty of the wealthiest men in Venice ; and such was the 
confidence placed in the honour of those generous men, that 
whilst Venice was attacked by sea and land, her paper money 
passed current at par throughout all Italy. According to a 
recent calculation, the citizens of Venice contributed to the 
republic in the course of the year, either in cash or in liabili- 
ties, a sum of thirty millions of florins."* 

The land army defending Venice consisted of nearly twen- 
ty thousand men, almost all of them volunteers. Many of 
the legions were commanded by French ofiicers. Not one 
case of desertion occurred within six months. In December, 
the blockade upon the side of the sea was rendered imprac- 
ticable by the presence of six French, sixteen Sardinian, and 
thirteen Venetian vessels. Several encounters took place 
between the Austrians and Venetians, in which the latter were 
very successful. On the 22d of October, the fort of the 
Cavallino, occupied by about two hundred and fifty Austrians, 
with three pieces of cannon, was taken, and the Austrians 
were pursued until they passed the Drave. On the 27th of 
October, General Pepe led a sortie of fifteen hundred volun- 
teers against the fortified position of the Austrians at Mestro 
and Fusino, whom they defeated, killing or wounding two 
hundred, and capturing five hundred men. The Venetians 
displayed the greatest fortitude and spirit during the siege. 
They suffered for the want of supplies of all kinds, but no 
murmurs escaped them and no traitors raised their foul hands 
to aid the enemy. But the struggle was vain. No ally came 
to the aid of the brave patriots. They looked for the inter- 
vention of the great powers ; but were wofully disappointed. 

* "Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 



112 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



Venice was at length compelled to surrender unconditionally, 
her forts, arsenals, arms, &c. 

In the mean time, the armistice between Austria and Sar- 
dinia was renewed, and Charles Albert employed the interval 
in recruiting and reorganizing his forces ; whether he seriously 
contemplated another campaign or desired to secure a favour- 
able peace, remained for the time unsettled. Federation and 
independence had become darling ideas of the Italian mind, 
and the governments were forced to bow before them. De- 
mocratic ministries were established, and the ordinary heading 
of their proclamations was, "FVye la Constttuente Italiana." 
This state of things did not foreshadow the peace for which 
the King of Sardinia probably longed. The Grand Duke of 
Tuscany approved of the design of an Italian Confederation. 
But the base, cruel, and cowardly King of Naples was bent 
upon thwarting it by every means in his power. 

To the infamous Ferdinand of Naples, belongs the black 
distinction of having committed the most appalling crime that 
stains the revolutionary records of 1848. 

" On the 14th of May, the deputies assembled to deliberate 
on the formula of the oath which was to be taken by the king 
and the members of the Chambers, in the church of San Lo- 
renzo Maggiore. The deputies were resolved to swear fidelity 
to the king and to the constitution of the 29th of January, 
'without prejudice to the changes which the Chamber might 
think proper to introduce into it.' This latitude was posi- 
tively given to the Chambers by the decree which promul- 
gated the constitution. Ferdinand demanded that the oath 
should be taken without restrictions, and several deputations, 
which waited on him to entreat that he would consent to the 
formula adopted by the deputies, received for answer that his 
resolution could not be shaken. 

" The intentions of the king were then clearly apparent, 
and were well in accordance with the presence at the palace 
of the infamous Del Carretto. Cambosso, his sinister lieu- 
tenant,, and his associates, for some days past had been going 
through the popular quarters of the city to prepare almost 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 113 



openly the horrible reaction which was to fill the city with 
ruin and blood. The Deputies and National Guards then 
resolved on resistance, and for the first time Naples beheld 
barricades erected. At ten o'clock in the morning of the 
15th, all the principal streets were completely blocked up, 
and the city presented the most extraordinary appearance. 
The Royal Swiss troops, the body-guard, infantry, cavalry, 
and artillery, with lighted matches, thronged around the 
palace, and established themselves on different points. 

<■<■ The bold demeanor of the liberal party intimidated 
Ferdinand ; and, as usual with him in all critical moments, 
the subject of his thoughts was how he might take back by 
stratagem the concessions which he was ready to make. At 
eleven o'clock he made known that he was ready to yield to 
the wishes of the Deputies ; he announced that the troops 
were about to withdraw, and begged the National Guard to 
remove the barricades and retire. The character of the 
king, however, was too well known, and the trap too appa- 
rent. The National Guard replied, that it would not quit 
the barricades until the decree had been issued, and the De- 
puties exhorted them to maintain this resolution. Things 
were in this state when an accident brought on the conflict. 
A National Guard having fallen down, his musket, which was 
probably cocked, went off. The National Guards placed be- 
hind the barricade considered it was an act of aggression on- 
the part of the Swiss, and fired. The latter returned it, and 
the engagement, once begun, could not be put a stop to. 

"The National Guard of Naples amounted to about ten* 
thousand men ; among them were nearly two thousand nobles 
and six thousand employes.^ These took no part in the- 
affair, so that the force of the National Guard was reduced 
to about two thousand men; to which number may be added 
about five hundred Calabrians, who were at Naples at the 
time. This little band performed prodigies of valour. At 
Sainte Brigitte, the Swiss mounted five times to the assault, 



* Persons who held places, of different grades, under government. 

8 



114 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



and five times they were repulsed. But the small quantity 
of ammunition possessed by the National Guards was soon 
exhausted, and the defenders of the barricades retired into 
the houses, whence a shower of projectiles was hurled on the 
heads of the troops. The artillery then entered the Largo 
del Castello, and a heavy fire of grape was poured on the 
barricades, which still held out. The Swiss, who had been 
joined by the Royal Guard, pursued the National Guard. 
The houses to which they had retired were entered, the doors 
broken open, and women, old men, and children, were slaugh- 
tered, and in many instances their bodies thrown from the 
windows. Where a door could not be broken open, the cannon 
were brought to bear upon it, and the inhabitants fell victims 
to their involuntary hospitality. Robbery and plunder were 
added to these indescribable scenes of desolation. The 
Swiss, who were the first to arrive, laid their hands on the 
money and all such valuables as they thought worth taking. 
Then came the Royal Guards, who carried ofi" furniture, 
linen, and other similar movables; lastly, the lazzaroni, to 
whom the refuse was acceptable. Murder was committed 
under the slightest pretext, such as a simple political impu- 
tation, and frequently from no other incitement than the 
pillage of a richly-furnished house. 

" In the beginning of the affray the lower orders seemed 
disposed to side with the National Guard, but being offered 
by the king and the troops the privilege of pillage, they "^ent 
over to their side. Unheard-of atrocities were perpetrated 
by the lazzaroni and the troops. In one house were shot a 
father, mother, and 'four children. Other victims were 
dragged alive through the streets to be butchered, struck as 
they went along and insulted by the police and the soldiers, 
who compelled them to cry, ' Viva il Re I'^ "When they re- 
fused they were pricked with the points of bayonets. The 
Royal Guard murdered two sons of the Marquis Vassatori 
in his own palace : the father went stark mad. The emis- 

* "Long live the King." 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 115 



sarles of Del Carretto, and, according to some accounts, Del 
Carretto himself, were employed in goading on the rabble to 
these acts of atrocity. 

"The massacre lasted eight hours, and might have con- 
tinued longer but for the indignant interference of the French 
Admiral Baudin. The law of nations having been violated 
by the Neapolitan government, the admiral informed the 
king, that if the disorder was not stopped within one hour, 
he would bring up his fleet from Castel-a-Mare, and land nine 
thousand men to defend the rights of humanity and of na- 
tions. When all was over the National Guard was sup-, 
pressed, the Chamber of Deputies was dissolved, martial law 
was proclaimed, and the white Bourbon flag was substituted 
for the tricolour. Who shall blame the Sicilians if they 
abhor the yoke of such a king as Ferdinand, and yearn to be 
quit for ever of his incorrigible race?"* 

Ferdinand refused to recognise the independence of the 
Island of Sicily, and determined to regain control of the 
people by force of arms. 

The Neapolitan expedition set sail on the 29th of August. 
It consisted of two frigates and twenty steamers, carrying 
altogether fourteen thousand men. On the 31st it anchored 
off Beggio, south of Messina, and the news of its arrival 
reached Palermo the same day, and would seem to have taken 
the Sicilian government by surprise ; not that the prepara- 
tions in which the King of Naples had been engaged for some 
months had been a secret for any one ; but the Sicilians had 
rested secure in the belief that the French and English ad- 
mirals would in no case allow the Neapolitan vessels to pass 
out of the bay of Naples. They did allow them, however ; 
and, in the plentitude of their courtesy, they even permitted 
the king's fleet to bombard Messina ; but when that ruthless 
deed of vengeance had been executed, and not until then, the 
French and English admirals did interfere, and put a stop to 
all further hostilities. 

* ''Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 



116 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



The unexpected arrival of the Neapolitan armament be- 
fore Messina, instead of striking terror into the Sicilians, 
stirred all their energies into convulsive activity, and excited 
to the highest degree their hatred of Naples, and all that 
belonged to it. The Minister for Foreign Affairs said to the 
assembled parliament, on laying before it his despatches from 
Messina, " Gentlemen, we bring you good news." The whole 
house, members, strangers and all, instantly responded with 
shouts of joy; and then the Chamber, with a dignity worthy 
of the Roman senate, passed disdainfully to the order of the 
day. At night Palermo was brilliantly illuminated, and the 
people went about hurrahing for the good 7iews, singing war- 
like and patriotic songs, and heaping curses and abuses on 
King Bomba, (one of their countless nicknames for Ferdinand.) 
The government instantly put in vigorous operation the mea- 
sures most necessary for the defence of the country. The 
National Guard had been organized and partially armed in 
the course of the summer; it was now woS'/Zz'sec^, that is, made . 
liable to serve in any part of the island ; and it was decreed 
that lists should be opened for the enrolment of volunteers, 
and that seven camps should be formed at Milazzo, Taormina, 
Catania, Syracuse, Girgenti, Trapani, and Palermo. The 
Minister of War was appointed commander-in-chief; an ex- 
traordinary commission was nominated to go into the pro- 
vinces and summon the people to arms ; all the horses and 
mules were put in requisition ; and, as temporary expedient 
for defraying the first expenses, a loan was to be raised on 
the plate of the churches and convents. 

Meanwhile the telegraph announced the bombardment of 
Messina. Having been repulsed with considerable loss in a 
first attempt to land at Mare Grosso, the Neapolitans kept 
up a steady fire for four days, not on the forts occiipied by 
the Messinese, but on the town itself; and bombs and rockets 
were discharged upon it from the citadel, the only point 
which had remained in the power of the King of Naples. 
Messina is open towards the sea ; the citizens fought with 
great bravery, but they were ill-armed and ill-commanded, 



THE ITALIAN KEVOLUTIONS. 117 



and the regular garrison was weak; so that, as the Neapoli- 
tan army was four times more numerous, it might have taken 
the city at the point of the bayonet without any very extra- 
ordinary effort. The four days' bombardment, therefore, was 
an act of wilful, brutal cruelty, opposed to all the laws of 
civilized warfare. When the Neapolitans landed on the 
beach of La Contessa, the suburb of that name, all the 
houses along the road from the sea to the gates of Messina, 
and a large portion of the beautiful city itself, had ceased to 
exist. A few Messinese sold their lives dearly behind the 
smoking ruins of their homes ; five thousand families had fled 
to the mountains, and thousands of women, children, and 
wounded, sought protection in the three French and English 
vessels in the roads. It is not surprising that after such in- 
human and disloyal treatment, the Messinese should have 
cruelly retaliated upon the prisoners who fell into their 
hands : it is not true, however, that they roasted and ate 
them, as the Neapolitan journals alleged. At any rate, the 
conquerors were not backward in making reprisals upon the 
defenceless inhabitants of the sacked city. 

A victory so dearly won was enough to make General 
Filangieri think seriously of the resistance he was likely to 
encounter in the prosecution of his expedition; he there- 
fore, issued a proclamation offering a general amnesty, sus- 
pension of the tax on grist, and the erection of Messina into 
a free port. These concessions were intended as prelimina- 
ries to his march on Catania and Syracuse ; but throughout 
all Sicily an explosion of rage had ensued upon the news of 
the catastrophe that had befallen Messina. Lanzerotte, the 
commandant of Syracuse, being suspected of cowardice or 
treachery, was seized by the populace and torn to pieces ; and 
the same fate would infallibly have happened to any man who 
talked of submission. In Palermo, the government durst 
not, if it would, have shown the least hesitation ; the word 
treachery, once uttered among the people, would have been a 
death sentence for the most popular leaders. There was no 
alternative but to proclaim war to the death, and to push for- 



11.8 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



ward with the utmost energy the preparations for a desperate 
resistance. The government being short of funds, provision- 
ally suspended the payment of the notes called hank policies, 
a measure which painfully affected a great number of the 
humbler classes, and which would, on any other occasion, have 
produced the worst effects. Vito d'Ondes Reggio, the Minis- 
ter of the Interior, left Palermo to arrange a line of defence 
in the eastern part of the island; and twenty thousand pikes 
were prepared to supply the want of muskets. The peasants 
flocked from all parts of the country to Palermo ; and from 
the mountains of Alcamo and Corleone came eight thousand 
swarthy-visaged descendants of the Moors, in their pictur- 
esque garbs, each man with a carbine slung over his stout 
shoulder. 

"But beneath this bold and martial bearing lurked many 
serious anxieties. The government, even while it declared 
that the Sicilian nation would perish to the last man rather 
than submit or enter into any compromise with Naples, clearly 
foresaw that the ruin of all the ports in the island was in- 
evitable, and that the only hope of resisting oppression lay 
in abandoning the whole seaboard, and retiring into the 
mountains. The people loudly vented their indignation 
against the inertness of their two allies, and the whole press 
echoed the popular cry ; but a favourable change was pro- 
duced in the public mind by the arrival of the French packet 
Hellespont, and the English corvette Sidon, the former 
freighted with two thousand muskets and four hundred bar- 
rels of powder, consigned to the Sicilian government, and 
the latter bringing news of an agreement for an armistice 
provisionally concluded on the 11th of September, between 
Captain Nonay of the French ship Hercule and Captain 
Robb of her Majesty's ship Gf-ladiator, on the one part, and 
General Filangieri on the other. Protected by the English 
and French fleets, the armistice was respected by both bel- 
ligerents, and the island enjoyed perfect tranquillity during 
the remainder of the year. MeauAvhile the Sicilians were 
prevailed on by their friends to abate something of their 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 119 



pretensions, and consent to treat with Naples for a settle- 
ment of their quarrel on the basis of the constitution of 
1812. The rights of his crown being no longer contested, 
King Ferdinand accepted, but with undisguised repugnance 
the mediation of France and England."* 

The changes of ministry in Sardinia and Tuscany were 
effected by force, but cost no bloodshed. In Rome, the new 
policy was initiated by the murder of Count Rossi, the able 
but haughty and tyrannical premier. On the 15th of No- 
vember, the Chamber of Deputies was to open at one o'clock, 
and a large crowd was consequently assembled around the 
gateway of the Palazzo della Cancellaria. When Rossi ap- 
peared they hissed and hooted. The haughty count con- 
fronted them with an expression of scorn, whereupon a man 
rushed forward and plunged a dagger into his neck. The 
dying man was taken up to the rooms occupied by Cardinal 
Guzzoli, and in five minutes expired. This deed appears to 
have been unpremeditated. But many of the Romans ap- 
proved it and applauded the murderer. Groups of mingled 
soldiers and citizens, Avith lighted torches, were heard sing- 
ing in chorus along the streets, 

" Benedetto quella mano 
Che il tiranus pugnato." 
*' Blessed be the hand which smote the tyrant." 

The death of Rossi was the signal for an insurrection for 
which Rome was already predisposed. At half-ten A. M. on 
the 16th, a gathering began in the great Piazza del Popolo, 
and symptoms of a menacing character were perceptible in 
the leading streets. The Civic Guards and troops of the 
line, in fragmentary sections, mingled with the people ; and 
the carbineers, whose uniform had hitherto been invariably 
arrayed against the populace, were now for the first time 
seen to fraternize with the mob. From the terrace of the 
Pincian Hill the spectator could count nearly 20,000 Romans,. 

* "Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 



120 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 




Pope Pius IX. 

in threatening groups, and mostly armed. Printed papers 
were handed eagerly about, all having the same purport, and 
containing the following ' Fundamental Points: 1. Promul- 
gation and full adoption of Italian nationality. 2. Convoca- 
tion of a Constituent Assembly and realization of the Federal 
Pact. 3. Realization of the vote for the war of independence 
given in the Chamber of Deputies. 4. Adoption, in its inte- 
grity, of the Programme Mamiani, 5th June. 5. Ministers 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 121 



who have public confidence — Mamiani, Sterbini, Cambello, 
Saliceti, Fusconi, Lunati, Sereni, Galletti." 

" Their ostensible object was to proceed to the Chamber of 
Deputies and present these five points in a constitutional 
manner. But the chiefs, finding themselves in such unlooked- 
for force of numbers, and many of the deputies being found 
mixed up with the crowd, the cry was raised to march to the 
pope's palace. It was now one o'clock. The members of 
the Chamber presented themselves as the mouthpiece of the 
multitude, and transmitted the five points to the sovereign. 
In about ten minutes, the President of the late Ministerial 
Council, Cardinal Soglia, came forth from the private apart- 
ment, and informed the deputation that his Holiness would 
reflect on the subject and take it into his best consideration. 
This message was deemed unsatisfactory, and a personal 
audience was insisted on for the deputation. An audience 
was granted ; Galletti, the former Police Minister, (and strange 
to say for such a functionary, the most popular man in Rome,) 
appeared on the balcony, and stated, that the pope ' would 
not brook dictation.' Matters grew critical. The Swiss 
Guard was resolute, but it numbered no more than two dozen 
men : escape or defence was equally difficult. Suddenly, one 
of the advanced sentinels was seized by the mob, and dis- 
armed. The Guard instantly flung back, closed, and barred 
the palace-gates, and presented their arms at the mass of 
the besiegers. The die was now cast. From the back streets 
men emerged, bearing aloft long ladders wherewith to scale 
the pontifical abode ; carts and wagons were dragged up and 
ranged within musket-shot of the windows, to protect the as- 
sailants in their determined attack on the palace ; the cry 
was, ' To arms ! To arms !' and musketry began to bristle in 
the approaches from every direction. Fagots were produced 
and piled up against one of the condemned gates of the 
building, to which the mob was in the act of setting fire, when 
a brisk discharge of firelocks scattered the besiegers in that 
quarter."* 

* " Revolutions of 1848," Iby W. S. Chase. 



122 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



The drums were now beating throughout the city, and 
groups of regular troops and carabineers reinforced the as- 
sailants. Random shots were aimed a,t the windows and re- 
sponded to. The outposts, one after another, were taken by 
the people, the garrison within being too scanty to man the 
outworks. The belfry of St. Carlino, which commands the 
palace, was occupied. From behind the equestrian statues 
of Castor and Pollux a group of sharpshooters plied their 
rifles ; and at about four o'clock, Monsignor Palma, private 
secretary to his Holiness, was killed by a bullet. Two six- 
pounders were drawn up and pointed at the gates ; but a truce 
was demanded, and a deputation again entered the palace bear- 
ing "the people's ultimatum," which was a simple repetition 
of the "fundamental points" cited above. If those terms were 
not granted, the palace was to be stormed, and every soul in 
it put to the sword, " with the sole exception of his Holiness 
himself." Pius no longer hesitated, but sent for Galletti, 
with whom he remained in conference from six till nearly 
seven, when the following new ministry was formally pro- 
claimed to the people: — Foreign Affairs, Mamiani; Home 
and Police, Galletti ; Finance, Lunati ; Commerce and Public 
Works, Sterbini; War Minister, Cambello ; Public Instruc- 
tion and President of the Council, Rosmini. The last name 
is the only one which the pope had selected himself: the 
others were all named by the people. Sterbini was the lead- 
ing writer in the " Contemporaneo." The Abbe Count Ros- 
mini declined the task proposed to him by the pope's selection, 
and was replaced by Monsignor Carlo Muzzarelli, a popular 
and enlightened prelato: 

On receiving intelligence of these events, the English 
admiral sent a steamer to Civita Vecchia to receive the pope, 
should he be a fugitive ; and the French government hastily 
despatched three steam-frigates, with a force of 8500 men, 
to protect the pontiff. He does not appear, however, to have 
been exposed to any personal danger ; but being resolved not 
to give even the implied sanction of his presence to the min- 
istry imposed upon him by the populace, he committed the 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS.. 123 



fatal imprudence of quitting his dominions as a fugitive. His 
flight was the signal for the dispersion of his cardinals. The 
veteran, Lambruschini, escaped in the uniform of a dragoon ; 
while Pius fled in the less appropriate guise of a servant 
to the Bavarian ambassador, and, crossing the frontier, ar- 
rived at Gaeta, where the King of Naples received him with 
worshipful homage. 

Deputations were sent bj the Roman ministry to solicit 
the pope's return ; but they were not even allowed to cross 
the Neapolitan frontier. As the pontiff" persisted in declar- 
ing the ministry to be illegal, and all its acts null and void, 
an act was passed by both Chambers, provisionally depriving 
the pope of temporal power, and decreeing the election of a 
<' Provisional Supreme Junta," for the purpose of carrying on 
the government. The act states, that " The commission shall 
discontinue its functions on the return of the sovereign pon- 
tiff", or when he shall himself appoint, according to consti- 
tutional forms, a substitute of his own selection." Neither 
of these conditions being fulfilled, an act was passed, at the 
instance of the Junta, and in compliance with the demands 
of the people, convoking a Constituent Assembly for the Ro- 
man States. The Chambers were then dissolved on the 29th 
of December. 

At sunset that evening, the Castle of St. Angelo, by the 
consecutive discharge of 101 great guns, announced to this 
metropolis and the world in general, that the dynasty which 
had reigned over Rome for 1048 years had come to a close, 
and a new government was to be called into being by the 
mandate of the whole population assembled in a constituent 
representative body by universal suff"rage. The great bell 
of the capitol, which only tolls for the death of a pope, pealed 
solemnly. It was exactly on the 24th November, (the fatal 
night of the flight of Pio Nono,) that, in the year of our Lord 
800, Charlemagne arrived in Rome to be crowned on Christ- 
mas day of that year by Leo III., and to institute and for- 
mally corroborate the donation of Pepin by the erection of 
the papal sovereignty. 



124 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS; 




Mazzini. 



The Constituent Assembly comprised many able members, 
and its proceedings were dignified and consistently liberal. 
As soon as it was ascertained that the pope not only would 
not return, but denounced the movement of the people, the 
Assembly proceeded to elect an executive Triumvirate. The 
wise and eloquent Joseph Mazzini was the most active and 
influential of the three men who exercised the executive power. 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



125 




General Avezzana. 



The brave and patriotic General Avezzana was his valuable 
aid. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, treacherous to the principles 
of the French Republic, resolved to send an expedition to 
crush the Roman patriots and restore the pope's temporal 
authority. On the 22d of April, 1849, a considerable French 
force, under General Oudinot, sailed for Italj, and after 
landing at Civita Vecchia, marched toward Rome. The 
troops had hitherto been kept in ignorance of .the object of 
the expedition. The general now issued a proclamation to 
them, stating "that the government, being resolved to main- 



i 



126 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



tain in all quarters of the globe their old and legitimate in- 
fluence, would not allow the destinies of the Italian people to 
be at the mercy of a foreign power, or a party which is but 
a minority." 

The Romans knew that the statement of the French gene- 
ral was entirely unfounded. They acted with a resolution 
worthy of their ancestors. On the 24th of April, the Con- 
stituent Assembly declared itself permanent — passed a reso- 
lution denouncing as a traitor any deputy who should desert 
his post — despatched a protest to General Oudinot, and issued 
an address to the people. The members then declared that, 
while willing to receive the pope as head of the church, they 
had discarded his temporal sway. At the same time, they 
called upon the lately constituted Triumvirate to assist them 
in supporting the declaration. The people responded to the 
sentiments of their leaders. Men of all classes armed them- 
selves, private houses Avere fortified, barricades thrown up, and 
every means taken to inspire a spirit of patriotic enthusiasm. 
"On the first sound of the alarm-bell," says one of the 
placards, <'the holy sacrament will be exposed in the princi- 
pal churches, to implore the safety of Rome and the triumph 
of the good cause." 

On the 30th of April, the French arrived before the city. 
They found the citizen soldiery, under General Garibaldi and 
other leaders, ready to receive them. While the French were 
planting their batteries and preparing for an assault, shots 
were fired from the wall and adjacent houses. At half-past 
ten, the attack commenced at the Porta Cavalleggieri ; but so 
spirited was the resistance, that in less than two hours Oudi- 
not's vanguard was driven back. At that moment, a body of 
Roman troops was thrown toward St. Paul's Church; while 
another body of armed citizens, carrying a red flag, hurried 
to defend the Porta Cavalleggieri. By noon, the French had 
posted their artillery upon a bastion ; but Garibaldi attacked 
them at difierent points. A conflict with cannon, musketry, 
and rockets took place. At one o'clock, the assailants were 
silenced. The Triumvirate immediately published the follow- 



TJIE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 127 



ing proclamation: << Romans, our honour is safe; God and 
our muskets will do the rest — energy and order. Be worthy 
of your fathers. Let no voice spread alarming news. Let no 
shot be fired in the direction of the city. Let every shot be 
for the enemy; and let every one cry, Viva la Mepublica !" 
At two o'clock, the attack was renewed; but after a spirited 
contest of two hours, the French were compelled to retreat. 

In the mean time, M. Frapold, the Roman envoy at Paris, 
protested in the name of his government ' against the inter- 
ference of the French in Italian affairs, declaring at the same 
time that his government was willing to accept the mediation 
of France. He received answer, that as far as France was 
concerned, Rome was the pope ; and that France interposed 
to prevent too violent a revolution. The news of Oudinot's 
repulse threw Paris into an uproar, and gave great strength to 
the republican opposition to Bonaparte's government. But 
the President declared that, since the Romans would not re- 
ceive the French as friends, they should receive them as foes ; 
and said he would send reinforcements to General Oudinot. 

On the 13th of May, the French army attempted to cross 
into Rome by a bridge ; but the bridge was blown up, and the 
assailants desisted. General Oudinot then commenced a 
blockade, which was maintained until early in June, at which 
time the French succeeded, after hard fighting, in taking pos- 
session of Villa Pamfila, the church of St. Pancras, and other 
points. We condense from General Oudinot's official report 
the account of his subsequent operations up to the 6th of 
June. "On the 4th," says the general, "at half-past eight 
in the evening, the trenches were opened at a distance of 
three hundred metres from the Avail. At this part the ground 
is very uneven, and covered with vines and hedges. The 
tracing of the parallel, and the distribution of the workmen, 
were very difiicult; on some points the work could not be un- 
dertqiken before midnight. At this moment I ordered a 
feigned attack on the side of Villa Pamfila. The result of 
this diversion surpassed my hopes ; all the efforts of the Ro- 
mans were turned toward the gate of St. Pancras, which they 



128 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



might suppose to be seriously menaced. The works of the 
parallel were not for an instant disturbed, and there was not 
a man wounded on this point during the night. The artillery- 
was engaged during the whole night of the 4th in construct- 
ing two batteries — the left to reply to the fire of the bastion, 
the right to silence the fire of Mount Testacio, where the 
enemy had made preparations of defence. The battery on 
the left opened its fire at six in the morning, and silenced the 
bastion. The battery on the left did not commence its fire 
till toward noon : its action was shown by the interruption of 
the fire of Mount Testacio. The night of the 5th was employed 
in perfecting the trench, and in the construction of a battery in 
the centre of the parallel. The Villas Corsina and Valentina, 
occupied by our troops, were the constant objects of the fire 
of musketry, and even artillery of the city. Our batteries 
have also replied to the enemy. Our establishment at Ponte 
Molle was consolidated without serious opposition ; the broken 
arch has been repaired, so as to permit with ease the passage 
of columns." 

The disposition of the Roman soldiery and inhabitants are 
thus set forth by a gentleman writing from that city. " The 
government and the inhabitants, from all the indications of 
public feeling I can gather, seem bent on resisting to the 
utmost, though after six weeks of harassing suspense and un- 
certainty, interruption of business, and almost total depriva- 
tion of pleasure, their spirits are no longer so buoyant a;s in 
the first days of May. Proclamations, issued yesterday and 
to-day, state that families disturbed by the enemy's shot will 
be accommodated with- lodgings in the public establishments 
of the capitol or the palaces of the nobility, and require the 
immediate surrender of all muskets or carbines in the possession 
of individuals, with a view to their being employed in the de- 
fence of the town. Various irregular bodies of men, squadrons 
of the Seven Hills, &c., are being formed." On the 8th, the 
same writer says : "The internal state of the city, as regards 
public quiet, is all that could be wished. There are no symp- 
toms of movement by any other than the republican party." 



THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 129 



The French continued their approaches with slow but sure 
success, until the 12th, when General Oudinot announced to 
the Triumvirate his intention to take the city by storm. He 
was answered that the Vatican, St. Peter's, and the palaces 
of the nobility were mined and charged with powder ; and that 
before the assailants should obtain entrance, the besieged 
would fire those works, and die amid their ruins. The attack 
was made on the 4th, and during that day and the next, the 
fire of cannon and musketry was incessant; on the 15th, Gari- 
baldi made a sortie with fourteen hundred men, but was driven 
back with loss; yet after a continuous cannonade of twenty- 
four hours, the French effected no available breach. 

General Oudinot continued his advances upon Rome until 
the close of June. Some spirited attempts were made upon 
separate points of the defences ; shells and other missiles were 
thrown into the city ; and the garrison was repeatedly sum- 
moned to surrender. But notwithstanding the loss of their 
property, the destruction of many monuments of art, and 
their personal sufi"erings, the soldiery and inhabitants still 
persisted in their resistance. Early in July the Constituent 
Assembly unanimously voted the constitution of the repub- 
lic, and ordered it to be deposited in the capitol. They also 
ordered funeral services to be celebrated in St. Stephen's for 
those who had fallen in defence of the republic. 

But it had now become evident that further resistance was 
useless. The French had surrounded the city; their cannon 
pointed toward its most populated quarters; the garrison, 
though determined, was small ; and an assault, besides causing 
great slaughter, would in all probability terminate in the cap- 
ture of the city and the ruin of some of its finest monuments 
of art. To prevent such a calamity, negotiations were opened 
with the French ; terms of capitulation were signed ; and 
Rome opened her gates to a French army. At the same time 
Garibaldi passed through the city with ten ^thousand men, 
and succeeded in effecting his escape. The Assembly an- 
nounced by proclamation the arrival of the French troops, 
and recommended abstinence from all vengeance, denouncing 

9 



130 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS. 



it as useless, and unworthy the dignity of Roman citizens. 
The French army entered, July 3, in the evening ; the sol- 
diers cleared the streets of barricades, and by dark the troops 
were consigned to their various quarters. A new government 
was formed; the troops were stationed in places favourable 
for suppressing disturbances ; some companies were despatched 
in pursuit of Garibaldi ; and in order that the Romans might 
not mistake as to the nature of the protection to be afforded 
them by their new deliverers, the arms of the pope were run 
up in a conspicuous place. 

Such was the end of the Roman republic of 1848. Never 
did any people show more capacity for self-government, or 
more firmness and dignity in the maintenance of their rights, 
than the Romans, subsequent to the flight of the pope. Their 
statesmen evinced extraordinary powers for administration, 
and there was every reason to believe that the golden dreams 
of Rienzi were about to be realized — that Rome was again to 
be free, prosperous, and powerful — and that the Italians were 
to be raised from that dark pit of ignorance and slavery into 
which the oppressions of centuries had plunged them. But a 
foreign hand, stretched, too, from a government calling itself 
republican, crushed Rome's free institutions, and led back the 
ruler who had but few voices among his people. The crime 
was worthy of the Bonaparte who has since violated a solemn 
oath taken to support the French constitution, and it will 
stand in the same catalogue with the division of Poland. - The 
ghost of the Roman republic will ever rise to prevent foreign 
sympathy for the people who permitted its government to 
commit such an outrage. 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



131 




Mierolawski. 



CHAPTER lY. 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND, 



The overthrow of Louis Philippe, of France, was the signal 
gun for a liberal movement throughout Germany. The peo- 
ple insisted upon the following concessions from their sove- 
reigns : — " A new civil and criminal code for all Grermany, 
ratifying, among other things, freedom of the press, trial by 
jury and publicity in all judicial proceedings ; representative 
government in the several states, with the right of voting 
taxes vested in the people alone ; civil equality, without dis- 
tinction of creed ; and lastly, that the people, as well as the 
princes, should be represented in the council of the German 
Confederation." These demands had been made by the Libe- 



132 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



ral party for thirty-three years, and the princes had not only 
rejected them, but punished those who prefered them. They 
"were now extorted in the space of three weeks from every 
ruler in Germany. 

The King of Wurtemburg made the first act of submission 
on the 3d of March. The sovereigns of Bavaria and Hesse 
Darmstadt complied with the demands of their subjects and 
then abdicated. On the 13th, the old system perished in its 
metropolis, Vienna, after a street tumult (for it was not a 
fight) of three or four hours ; and on the 18th, the new order 
of things was established in Berlin, and consecrated by a 
lavish outpouring of blood. 

" The King of Saxony insisted on retaining the censorship 
of the press, and would not hear of any ' insensate projects' 
for the security of his subjects' rights. His subjects, how- 
ever, persisted in their demands ; the king was ' moved to 
tears,' but not to compliance ; on the contrary, he called out 
his troops, but they refused to act against the people, and the 
king was constrained to grant every thing. 

« King Ernest of Hanover, of course, began by refusing all 
concessions. When further pressed, he talked of abdicating; 
but finding his beloved Hanoverians quite unmoved by that 
threat, he resigned himself to his fate» and even submitted to 
the mortification of receiving Stiibe as one of his ministers, — 
a man who had spent many years in prison for his resistance 
to King Ernest's illegal and tyrannical acts. 

"A dramatic scene, recorded in a letter from Oldenburg, 
is curious and significant. A deputation^ headed by Baron 
von Thanne, one of the wealthiest landed proprietors in the 
duchy, waited on the grand duke on the 10th of March, with 
a petition for a representative government,, and other consti- 
tutional grants. The baron made a speech, in which he ex- 
pounded the object of the petition in very forcible terms. 
The duke, unaccustomed to such language, interrupted the 
speaker, saying, « Sir, do you mean to threaten m.e V ' Such 
is not my intention, prince I' replied Von Thanne, 'we 
merely express wishes^ but they are the unanimous wishes of 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 133 



the people.' <You demand a constitution,' observed the 
duke : < that is a very difficult matter, requiring much time 
and long meditation ; and, moreover, at a moment like this, 
we should not be in too great a hurry.' 'Allow me,' said 
Von Thanne, ' to remind your highness, that you made me 
precisely the same reply seventeen years ago, in 1830, when I 
had the honour to claim, in the name of the people, a similar 
concession !' 

" The King of Bavaria's abdication ought, for the honour 
of royalty, to have taken place sooner. On the 19th of 
February very serious riots, threatening to end in the king's 
deposition, were caused in Munich by one of the freaks of 
Louis's mistress, Lola Montez, whom he had created Countess 
of Lansfeldt. Lola was obliged to quit the city. Having 
returned to it on the 9th of March, she was again removed 
hj the police, and the king was compelled to annul the letters 
of naturalization he had conferred on her, and with them her 
right to the estate from which she derived her title. But the 
sacrifice was too painful to the infatuated old monarch : and 
his abdication followed within a week after the decree ex- 
torted from him against his fascinating mistress. 

" The revolution in Vienna began on the occasion of the 
opening of the Diet for Lower Austria. The business of the 
day had not proceeded more than half an hour, when it was 
interrupted by a mass of people, who forced their way into 
the hall, clamouring for reform. Count Montecuculi, Marshal 
of the Diet, immediately went to the palace, followed by a 
erowd of people, to present a petition to the emperor, pray- 
ing the same reforms as had been granted in other parts of 
Oermany. The Archdude Ludwig, chief of the Home De- 
partment, informed the count that there was no disposition 
to make concessions. A cabinet council, however, was sum- 
moned, and the Marshal of the Diet and those who accompa- 
nied him waited in vain for its determination, from twelve to 
four o'clock. The people became exasperated by this delay; 
the students harangued them ; the tumult continually increased. 



134 REVOLUTIONS IN GEKMANT AND POLAND. 



Suddenly the troops appeared and fired upon the unarmed 
multitude, killing and wounding a great number. Four pieces 
of cannon were planted on St. Stephen's Platz, and the gun- 
ners stood by them with lighted matches. Meanwhile the 
alarum-drum was beaten ; the Burgher Gruard appeared ini 
arms, and were received by the populace with loud acclama- 
tions ; but all further conflict was prevented by the announce- 
ment that Prince Metternich had resigned^ that the emperor 
had acceded to the popular demands, and had confided the 
city to the keeping of the students and the burghers. Anew 
ministry was formed under the Presidency of Count Kolow- 
rath, and various measures of grace were announced in rapid 
succession. An amnesty was declared in favour of all poli- 
tical prisoners in Galicia and the Lombardo- Venetian king- 
dom. One hundred and fifty Polish and Italian prisoners 
were dismissed from the forti-ess at Spielberg, infamous in 
the annals of Austrian despotism. The Secret Court of Po- 
lice was abolished, and a letter was published from the minis- 
ter, Baron Pillersdorf, to the police ofiicers of all the Austrian 
provinces, in which he tells them that a great many of their 
former functions are now illegal. They are forbidden to em- 
ploy spies, ' since the free press will not fail to reveal dan- 
gerous conspiracies and plots, if any exist.' Liberty of the 
person and a kind of habeas corpus are officially proclaimed 
in this letter. 

"The constitution proclaimed on the 25th of Aprirbom- 
pleted the first stage of the Austrian revolution. According 
to this scheme, afterward abrogated by another revolu- 
tionary movement,, the Imperial Parliament was to consist of 
two houses. The Upper House was to comprise about two 
hundred members, one-fifth of whom was to be nominated by 
the emperor. The heads of princely houses were to have 
seats in this assembly ; and the rest of its members were to 
be elected by landed proprietors paying one thousand florins 
and upwards of annual taxes. The Lower House was to be 
constituted on the broadest democratic basis. Every man 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 135 



was to have a vote and be eligible as a representative. The 
number of members was to be about four hundred."* 

Frederick William of Prussia was expected to favour, if 
not to head the liberal movement. But his weakness and in- 
decision were soon made apparent. On the 6th of March, 
the king closed the sittings of the Diet he had called into 
existence the year before, promising that it should thereafter 
meet periodically. But the citizens of every town in the 
Rhenish provinces cried out for the broadest reform. Bres- 
lau, Konigsburg, and Berlin echoed the demand. On the 13th 
of March, a great open-air meeting was held in Berlin. This 
ended in a tumult, in which the troops acted with great vio- 
lence. For nearly a week, Berlin was a continued scene of 
dire disorder. On the 15th, though the people offered little 
more than a passive resistance, ten persons were killed and 
upward of a hundred were wounded by the military. While 
such was the state of the capital, bloody riots occurred in 
Breslau and Konigsburg. 

On the morning of the 18th, a deputation from Cologne 
arrived in Berlin, and at once waited on the king, and pre- 
sented a petition for reform. Frederick William promised 
to accede to their demands. They replied, " We have been so 
often deceived and put off, that we cannot wait any longer. 
We must insist on a proclamation being issued at once, or 
your majesty will cease to reign over your Rhenish provin- 
ces." The king was much hurt, but after some parley, sub- 
mitted. Threatened, on the one hand, with the loss of a part 
of his dominions, and, on the other, flattered by the prospect 
of an imperial crown, he published a proclamation, demand- 
ing the formation of a confederation, and appointing the 2d 
of April for the convocation of a Federal Diet to provide 
liberal institutions for all Germany. 

The people of Berlin received the king s manifesto with 
every demonstration of delight. An immense crowd collected 
at the palace to express the gratification of all classes. 

* "Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 




Insurrection in Berlin. 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 137 



At two o'clock his majesty appeared at a window, and was 
received with tremendous cheers. Unfortunately, two regi- 
ments of dragoons, stationed in the inner court of the palace, 
on hearing the shouts, supposed that the populace were 
making an attack ; defiling, therefore, at a slow pace through 
the gateway, they formed in line, and began to force the 
people back by bearing on the mass with the chests of their 
horses. At this moment two shots were fired from a body 
of infantry ; the discharge was accidental, and no one was 
wounded, but the consequences were not the less disastrous. 
The people, imagining that a most treacherous design had 
been formed to massacre them, immediately rushed to arms. 
Barricades were thrown up in every street, and riflemen took 
post at windows and on house-tops, whence they fired upon the 
soldiery. The latter were by no means reluctant to engage in 
the fray ; on the contrary, they were animated by the scorn 
and hatred which the garrison of Berlin has always professed 
for the bourgeoisie, and they were further incensed by what 
they considered the unfair fighting of their opponents. They 
looked on the fighters from the windows and house-tops as 
assassins, and gave them no quarter ; several corner-houses, 
from which the firing was particularly sharp, were taken, 
and every one within was put to death. Twelve were thus 
killed in a house in the Fredericks strasse, among them a 
young Pole, who frantically begged the lieutenant to spare his 
life; but it was impossible to control the rage of the soldiers: 
in another house, a cafe, eight men were bayoneted in the 
billiard-room. The people, on the other hand, fought with 
no less valour and determination, and for nearly fifteen hours 
the fight raged with undiminished fury. The firing, which 
began soon after two p. m. on the 18th, ceased at five in the 
morning of the 19th, the king voluntarily desisting from the 
contest without having been actually defeated. He felt, no 
doubt, that even a victory, won after a further continuance 
of so horrid a strife, might be fatal to his tenure of the 
crown. 

"At seven o'clock on the morning of the 19tli, there was 



138 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



published an address to the inhabitants of Berlin by the 
king, assuring them that the conflict between the people and 
the soldiery was purely the result of an unfortunate misunder- 
standing, and entreating mutual forgiveness and oblivion of 
the past on both sides. The good-natured Berliners respond- 
ed with alacrity to this appeal, and again they thronged to 
the palace to ratify the compact proposed to them by their 
king. At eleven o'clock Frederick William appeared on a 
balcony, and was received with a cordiality that was certainly 
surprising under such circumstances ; he afterwards went 
down into the square, declared his consent to the arming of the 
people, confided himself to their safeguard, and as a proces- 
sion passed him bearing the bodies of some of the dead and 
wounded, he uncovered his head, and uttered words of the 
deepest regret and respect for the fallen. A general amnes- 
ty was announced ; the military were sent out of the town ; 
orders were given for the immediate formation of a Burgher 
Guard, in which the students of the university were to be in- 
corporated ; and a new ministry of a very liberal character 
was appointed, including Dr. Bornemann and Dr. Camphau- 
sen, representatives of the middle class, whose talents and 
eloquence had been conspicuous in the Diet of the preceding 
year. 

" To the honour of the Berliners it deserves to be recorded, 
that from the moment the fight had ceased they exhibited no 
spirit of revenge ; they even praised the bravery ot the 
troops, and cheered them as they left the town with flying 
colours and the music of their military bands. Even in the 
heat of the conflict but few acts of. wilful injury to private 
property were committed. The Royal Foundry and the ar- 
tillery barracks were reduced to ashes ; the furniture of Ma- 
jor Preiss, who was believed to have given orders to fire on 
the unofiending people, was burned, and the house of the Direc- 
tor of Taxes, and the shop of a glover who had given up 
some Polish students to the soldiers, were both pillaged. No 
other acts of violence of this kind were committed, and the 
"words ' Respect for the property of the citizens,' were every- 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 139 



■where "written by the insurgents themselves on the doors of 
the houses and shops. The popular feeling was very strong 
against the Prince of Prussia, and his palace would inevitably 
have been demolished, had it not been protected by the talis- 
manic inscription, <■ National Property.' The prince was be- 
lieved — we know not on what evidence, — to have counselled 
the king against making any concessions to the wishes of the 
nation, and to have made use of very virulent expressions 
against the people while the conflict was pending. To allay 
the irritation caused by the prince's presence, it was resolved 
that he should quit Prussia with all speed, under pretext of 
a secret mission to the Queen of England. 

"The number of those who fell in the deplorable conflict of 
the 18th of March, was very considerable, but much less than 
at first it was made to appear by various circumstantial re- 
ports, put forth with great pretensions to accuracy. On the 
popular side the slain may have been about two hundred, of 
whom one hundred and eighty-seven received a public funeral ; 
as to the wounded, we have not been able to discover any 
authentic account of their numbers. By an oflScial list of the 
loss sustained by the military, it appears that those slain on 
the 18th, or who afterward died of their wounds received 
that day, were three commissioned and seventeen non-com- 
missioned oflficers and privates ; the list of wounded includes 
fourteen commissioned officers, fourteen non-commissioned, 
two-hundred and twenty-five rank and file, and one surgeon. 
It has been pretended that the losses of the military were 
studiously concealed, and that great numbers of their dead 
were conveyed by night to the fortress of Spandau, and there 
secretly buried ; but a story so glaringly improbable cannot 
be admitted in the face of the document of which we have 
given the above abstract. The official list gives the name, 
birth-place, regiment, and battalion of every killed and 
wounded officer and soldier, so that any suppression of the 
truth would be liable to immediate detection. , There is no 
doubt, therefore, that the above is an exact statement of the 
loss up to the 12th of April. 



140 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



"Frederick William's position after the ISth and 19tli of 
March was that of a sovereign who had virtually lost a battle 
against his own subjects, and who was forced to behold the peo- 
ple more masters of his capital than he was himSelf. Not all 
the floods of his sentimental and vainglorious rhetoric could 
conceal that glaring fact. ■'One means, however, presented 
itself to him by which he might retrieve his lost dignity in 
the eyes of Europe, and he seized it with a dexterity which 
would have been admirable but for the fault, common to 
almost all his majesty's boldest acts, of coming just after the 
opportunity had gone by. On the 21st he issued a procla- 
mation, reiterating in still more forcible and explicit terms 
his declaration that he would head the grand movement for 
the regeneration of Germany; and thus, instead of allowing 
the minds of his subjects to dwell on old grievances, he turned, 
for a while, the whole torrent of popular excitement to new 
hopes, and questions of larger import, in which it appeared 
to the Prussians that they and their sovereign must act 
together. 

" On the same day the king rode in state through the streets 
of Berlin. The black and white cockade of Prussia had been 
stained with blood; but forthwith his majesty reappeared 
with the Imperial colours on his helmet ; that same ancient 
German tricolour proscribed at the universities, and which 
waved over the people's barricades at Berlin, was now the 
hopeful emblem of the Imperial power of united Germany. 
Immense was the enthusiasm with which the king was every- 
where greeted by the dense masses, through which his horse 
could hardly move. "Long live the Emperor of Germany!" 
cried a voice. "Not so," replied Frederick William; "that 
is not my wish — that is not my intention;" a denial which, 
we must suppose, meant no more than nolo episcopari. The 
King of Prussia, seizing the leadership of Germany as soon 
as Austria seemed disabled from contending with him for its 
possession, was not likely to build up a German empire in 
order to give himself a master. But his intentions, whatever 
they were, came to naught ; for already the people of Ger- 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 141 



many had themselves taken in hand the work which Frederick 
William arrogated to himself. The Duke of Brunswick 
seems to have been the only prince who publicly declared his 
adhesion to the King of Prussia's leadership. The people of 
every state except Prussia looked coldly on the claims of the 
candidate for empire, or rejected them absolutely, and, in 
some instances, with scorn. 

"In accordance with the king's famous proclamation of the 
18th of March, the Prussian Diet assembled for the last time 
on the 2d of April, only to pass a law for convoking a con- 
stituent assembly. Having fulfilled that duty, the fantastic 
imitation of a mediseval institution disappeared like a dream, 
and from a representation of castes and classes, Prussia rushed 
at once to universal suffrage. The Diet had no hold on public 
opinion ; its best merit was having placed in a conspicuous 
and national position such men as Camphausen, Beckerath, 
Dahlmann, and others, and produced a class of persons pre- 
viously unheard of in Germany — leaders of a peaceful, pa- 
triotic opposition to an administration which scarcely admit- 
ted of any check from public opinion. 

"But however defective may have been the constitution of 
the short-lived Diet, it was incomparably superior in moral 
weight and in efficiency to the heterogeneous body that took 
its place toward the end of May. The great majority of the 
members returned to the Constituent Assembly, were men 
devoid of experience, of character, of ability, and even of 
common education. A single specimen will suffice to show 
the trashy character of its debates. It occupied itself during 
tAYO days, June 8th and 9th, in discussing a motion brought 
forward by Herr Behrend, that the Constituent Assembly 
should acknowledge the revolution of the 18th and 19th of 
March, and declare its authors to merit well of their country. 
The motion was opposed by the ministry, who, without disa- 
vowing the consequences of the conflict, protested that it had 
not overturned the existing institutions of the land. A mul- 
titude of amendments were proposed, and the whole assembly 
plunged violently into a critical disquisition on the question. 



142 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



— were the events of March a revolution or only a transac- 
tion between the crown and the people ? It was decided in 
favour of the transactionists by a majority of 196 to 177, to 
the horror and rage of the minority and their supporters 
out-of-doors. Some of the representatives, the minister Baron 
Arnim especially, were assaulted as they left the Chamber, 
and narrowly escaped with life. 

"A regular insurrection followed. The first exploit of the 
mob was to tear down the iron gates which had been set up 
a few days before on the Schloss platz, in front of one of the 
two large courts around which the palace is built. The gates 
were strong and heavy, yet they were wrenched from their 
fastenings, a process that must have required immense force ; 
the guard on duty offered no resistance, and the gates were 
carried in triumph to the university, and deposited in the 
hall. 

"But this affair, which might, comparatively speaking, 
have passed for a venial frolic in a city given up to such per- 
petual turbulence and confusion, was but the prelude to a 
most alarming and disgraceful event. On the night of the 
14th of June the arsenal was sacked and pillaged. The 
scene was a most shameful one ; the mob plundered, ravaged, 
and destroyed every thing. New muskets were flung from 
the windoAVS and broken ; antiquities of priceless value, arms 
inlaid with silver and ivory, rare models of artillery, were 
stolen or broken to pieces, — nay, the trophies won by the 
blood of the people, banners taken in the Seven Years' war, 
and in the later campaigns against Napoleon, were torn to 
fragments and trampled in the mire. It was not so much 
the desire for arms as for plunder that led to this outrage, 
for many of the arms were soon afterward sold for a few 
groschen apiece. 

"The history of the Prussian capital during the eight 
months following the king's capitulation to the populace on 
the 18th of March is that of a chronic state of riot, with 
paroxysms almost as frequent and regular as ague-fits. The 
middle classes were more demoralized and mob-ridden than 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 143 



those of Paris ; the Burgher Guard failed, in every important 
emergency, to perform their primary duty of maintaining 
order ; for the sake of peace and quiet, they marched off 
from the arsenal and let the plunderers have their way ; they 
did not even .protect a minister from an invasion of a few 
hundred men, who stormed his office, hroke open the doors, and 
had to be bought off for money. Severe monetary distress 
exasperated every other evil. Thousands of artisans, de- 
prived of employment, swelled the malefactor class in a capi- 
tal that has always from 8,000 to 10,000 liberated convicts 
among its population, ready to take advantage of any confu- 
sion. A rapid succession of ministers passed through the 
public offices, some designated by the popular party, and 
some selected as faithful servants of the crown ; but none of 
them had strength to guide the Assembly or courage to re- 
sist it, or personal influence enough to disarm the animosity 
of a populace they could neither serve nor feed. It was the 
king's weakness and folly that had let loose all these ele- 
ments of confusion; and lest, haply, they should at last sub- 
side, he kept up the turmoil from time to time, by some mon- 
strous outbreak of personal indiscretion. Thus, for instance, 
so late as the middle of October, 1848, he talked in down- 
right earnest of his divine right as no fiction, but a living 
truth. On the 15th, Frederick William IV. celebrated the 
anniversary of his birthday; various congratulatory deputa- 
tions waited on him, but he received them with any thing but 
gracious cordiality. To the deputation from the Assembly 
he said, 'Remember that I am still king "by the grace of 
God," and that the authorities which are instituted by God 
are alone able to maintain law and order.' 

"At last a crisis arrived; and under the direction, probably, 
of the more energetic members of the royal family, the king 
for once pursued a firm, temperate, and consistent course. 
A sufficient pretext for this change was found in a scene of 
more than ordinary violence which occurred in the Assembly 
on the 31st of October. A motion was brought forward by 
Herr Waldeck, for a resolution calling on the government to 



144 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



employ all means and forces at the disposal of the State for 
the defence of the liberties of the people, endangered at 
Vienna. A mob of several thousands marched to the house 
to lend this motion the aid of their pressure from without; 
and many of them went prepared with cords with running 
nooses, hammers, and long nails or hooks, for the purpose of 
hanging certain obnoxious deputies. So violent was the 
temper of the mob, that even Behrend, ' the friend of the 
people,' was accused of being lukewarm, and not only was 
he hissed, hooted, and insulted, but his long red beard was 
singed off by the torches of his quondam admirers. The 
Burgher Guard for once did their duty, and repulsed the in- 
vaders of the Assembly, killing or wounding about a dozen 
of them, and arresting several others. 

"It was expected that Count Pfuel, the premier, would 
take vigorous means to extricate the government and the 
country from the degraded and perilous position into which 
they had fallen. But if the king had confidence in his min- 
ister, the minister had none in the king, and he insisted on 
being relieved from the responsibilities of an office which had 
been discredited and made almost untenable by the extreme 
imprudence of the king's language. 

" On the retirement of General Pfuel, the king committed 
the task of forming a ministry to his morganatic uncle, 
Count Brandenburg, who was notorious for his attachment 
to the old Absolutist system. The Assembly thereupon re- 
solved, ulmost unanimously, to send an address to the king, 
declaring that the country had for some weeks been kept in 
alarm by the projects of the reactionary party, and that 'a 
government under the auspicies of the Count of Branden- 
burg, without any prospect of obtaining a majority in the 
National Assembly, or of gaining the confidence of the 
country, would undoubtedly bring the excitement to a head,' 
and produce disasters like those of Vienna. The king 
received the deputation that waited on him with the address, 
heard it read, and then left the room without reply; not 
thinking it constitutional, as he afterward intimated, to give 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 145 



an answer in the absence of the responsible ministers. As 
he was turning away, Herr Jacobi, one of the deputation, 
said, 'We have been sent here not only to hand the address 
to your majesty, but also to give you information respecting 
the true state of the country. Will your majesty hear us?' 
<No!' said the king; whereupon Herr Jacobi burst out 
with the angry remark, < It is the misfortune of kings that 
they will not hear the truth !' 

"After the return of the deputation, a formal reply was 

. sent to the Assembly in writing : it simply asserted the king's 

right and resolve to appoint the count as his minister. Ott 

the 9th was gazetted the list of the new ministry, consisting; 

wholly of persons not members of the Assembly. 

"At the meeting of the Chamber on that day, Count 
Brandenburg, Strotha, Manteuffel, and Ladenburg, entered 
as ministers. The count arose to address the House ; but 
the president. Von Unruh, stopped him, declaring he could 
not speak without obtaining the Assembly's leave. Count 
Brandenburg desisted, handed in a royal decree, and sat 
down. The decree was read, and was a thunderstroke to 
the Assembly. Alluding briefly to the display of republican- 
symbols, and to criminal demonstrations of force ta overawe 
the Assembly, it stated that there was a necessity to transfer 
the sittings from Berlin to Brandenbm-g, and declared "^the 
sittings of the Constituent Assembly to be prorogued' to 
the 27th of the month, when it required that body to reas- 
semble at Brandenburg. The reading of the decree was in- 
terrupted by violent acclamations and protests. The minister 
was apostrophized with cries of ' Never, never, we protest ; 
we will not consent ; we will perish here sooner ; it is illegal ; 
it is unconstitutional: we are masters.' In the midst of 
this tumult the Count Brandenburg rose and said: — 'In 
consequence of the royal message which has just been read, 
I summon the Assembly to suspend its deliberations forth- 
with, and to adjourn until the day specified. I must, at the 
same time, declare all further prolongation of the delibera- 
tions to be illegal, and protest against them in the name of 

10 



146 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



the crown.' He then with his colleagues left the hall of 
the Assembly. 

"As soon as the excitement had somewhat abated, the steps 
to be taken were discussed. Two motions were made ; the 
first by Bornemann, that the ministers should be required to 
withdraw their message: this was rejected. The second, 
divided into three clauses, ran in these terms: — 'For the 
present there are not sufficient grounds for removing the sit- 
ting of the deliberation to any other place : it will therefore 
remain at Berlin. The crown is not entitled to the right of 
adjourning, removing, or dissolving the Chamber against its 
will. The responsible functionaries who may have advised 
the crown to issue the above message are not qualified to do 
so, or to represent the government: on the contrary, they 
have thereby rendered themselves guilty of dereliction of 
duty toward the crown, the country, and Assembly.'* 

"The three clauses of the motion were put separately, and 
they were carried almost unanimously by the members re- 
maining in the Chamber — about 240; but some 59 members 
of the Right had first withdrawn, and they afterward sent 
in a protest. 

"The members of the diplomatic body quitted their gallery 
immediately after the passing of the resolutions in defiance 
of the royal decree. At that stage of the proceedings, M. 
Nothomb, the Belgian envoy, suggested to his colleagues the 
propriety of retiring. 'We are accredited,' he said,, 'to 
the king, and not to this Assembly. His majesty has for- 
mally declared the Assembly closed: in our eyes it ought to 
be so considered ; and consequently, upon general principles, 
and in virtue of all constitutional antecedents, I hold it to be 
my duty to withdraw.' Upon this, M. Arago said, 'My 
opinion perfectly accords with yours, and I shall also retire.' 



* This is in allusion to a defect in Count Brandenburg's nomination, 
■which had not been countersigned by any minister. This omission was 
rectified at a later hour by the nomination being sent down, countersigned 
"Eichmann." 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND, 147 



The remaining members of the diplomatic corps coinciding, 
the whole body quitted the gallery. 

" The Assembly resolved to sit in permanence. The presi- 
dent and some thirty members accordingly remained in the 
house all night. During the evening and night the populace 
were in a fearfully excited state, hurrying about and group- 
ing incessantly on different spots; but they were everywhere 
addressed, and entreated to remain peaceable, by members 
of the Left, who spread themselves through the city on the 
mission of preaching passive resistance. 

The members of the Assembly were called together by 
Unruh, at five o'clock on the morning of the 10th, and told 
of negotiations that had passed. Count Brandenburg had sent 
him a formal note, addressed to him simply as Councillor of 
State, warning him and the members of the Assembly against 
the illegality of persisting to meet in Berlin, and making 
him and them answerable for all grave consequences. The 
minority of fifty-nine from the Right had formally protested 
that the Assembly was constituent only; that in the decree 
which summoned it no place of meeting was mentioned ; that 
the king had, therefore, the right to name the place of meet- 
ing, and that it was both his right and his duty to change 
that place of terrorism for another ; that the Assembly was 
bound to summit; and that further resolutions passed at 
Berlin were invalid, and could not bind the fifty-nine or the 
rest of the country. 

" Deputations from various bodies had gone to the king with 
prayers to retract, but had not even had an interview. In 
the evening of the 9th, the President of the Police had 
formally demanded of Rimpler, conimandant of the Burgher 
Guard, whether the Guard 'intended to act' on the morning 
of the 10th, in closing by force the hall of the Assembly. 
The captains of battalions met, and resolved to inform the 
government that the Burgher Guard would protect the 
Chamber, as well as the government, from all violence on 
the part of the people ; but that, should the military be called 
in, the Burgher Guard would close round the theatre of the 



148 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



Assembly, and stand with ordered arms between the soldiers 
and the house ; and should the military then advance, in 
defiance of the protest of the Burgher Guard and the presi- 
dent, the former would retire, and take no part in the pro- 
ceeding. It was in consequence of these resolutions that the 
Assembly met at five A. m. instead of nine, as it had intended : 
225 members were counted. 

"Unruh addressed the House in a speech, counselling the 
most cautious moderation ; ' to maintain the most undeviat- 
ing attitude of dignified passive resistance.' The O'Connell 
maxims were reiterated almost in terms — ' every drop of 
blood shed through our fault must injure, but cannot benefit 
our cause ;' ' the blood of our citizens must not be squander- 
ed ; it must be reserved for other occasions.' At eight A. M. 
the members refreshed themselves without quitting the house. 
The Burgher Guard surrounded the house with a deep cor- 
don, and the people assembled in vast crowds and testified 
their sympathy with the representatives ; orators addressing 
them with advice to keep the strictest attitude of peaceful- 
ness. 

" About noon the Assembly was thrown into a great state 
of uneasiness, by an announcement that the military were 
on the move and about to enter the city. Several members 
rushed to the windows ; others seized their out-door habili- 
ments, as if to fly ; but they were recalled by general shouts 
of ' order V * To your seats !' The business of the House 
was then resumed, and a proclamation to the Prussian people 
was agreed to, in which the Assembly protested against the 
unjustifiable acts of -the crown, and called on the people to 
resist by legal means. 

"At half-past four the president rose suddenly, and an- 
nounced that the theatre of the Assembly was completely 
surrounded by the military. The commander of the Burgher 
Guard had questioned General Wrangel why he thus assem- 
bled his troops. Wrangel answered that he really should be glad 
to get quickly into quarters : he was protecting the Assembly. 
Rimpler. — ' The Assembly declines your protection : how long 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 149 



shall you keep your troops here?' Wrangel. — < My troops 
are used to the bivouac : they can remain here a week, if the 
Assembly sit so long.' At five o'clock the president an- 
nounced that General Wrangel persisted in blockading the 
Assembly. He would allow the gentlemen in the house to go 
out of it, but would allow none to return. ' As to an As- 
sembly, he only knew of one that had been dissolved.' The 
Assembly resolved, on the advice of Unruh, to submit to force 
under protest ; to withdraw, and reassemble elsewhere next 
day. This was done. The troops made passages ; the depu- 
ties marched out two and two ; and the Burgher Guard fol- 
lowed them in columns. The people were harangued from 
houses, and seemed to enter into the policy preached by the 
Left. They dispersed peacefully, and the town assumed an 
appearance of mysterious calm. 

" On the morning of the 11th, two hundred and forty of the 
expelled deputies met in the great hall of the Rifle Guild, and 
proceeded to transact business. Addresses of sympathy 
poured in from public bodies in Berlin, and from the provinces. 
The town council voted its freedom to Unruh and two other 
members. A committee of the Assembly was appointed to 
draw up a full report of events for national circulation; 
another committee was to consider and report on the expe- 
diency of impeaching the ministry, and in the event of their 
perseverance in present courses, of stopping supplies. A re- 
port that it was intended to disband and disarm the Burgher 
Guard reached the Assembly, and caused immense excitement. 
It was resolved that those who advised the measure were 
traitors to the country ; that the Burgher Guard should be 
forbidden, on pain of being themselves declared traitors, to 
surrender their arms ; and that they should be ordered and 
directed to defend themselves to the last against all attempts 
to disarm them. 

''Later in the day, a royal proclamation appeared, by which 
the Burgher Guard was disbanded, in consequence of its ille- 
gal deportment on the previous day. The document con- 
tained the following, among other passages, in the king's 



150 EEVOLTJTIONS IN GERMAIfr AND POLAND. 



own peculiar style ; — ' To all of you (Prussians) I again give 
the inviolable assurance that nothing shall be abrogated from 
your constitutional liberties ; that it shall be mj holiest en- 
deavour to be unto you, by the help of God, a good constitu- 
tional king, so that we may mutually erect a stately and 
tenable edifice, beneath whose roof, to the weal of our Prus- 
sian and our whole German fatherland, our posterity may 
quietly and peacefully rejoice in the blessings of genuine and 
true liberty for generations to come. May the blessings of 
God rest upon our work !' 

" On the 12th there appeared another proclamation, more 
especially devoted to the dissolving the Burgher Guard, in 
these words, after long prelimiaary statements : — ' In con- 
formity with the 3d section of the law of the 17th October, 
for the organization of the Burgher Guard, the contents of 
which are as follows, — " The Burgher Guard can be suspended 
or dissolved by order of the king, for motives to be mentioned 
in the decree of dissolution. This suspension cannot exceed 
six months. The order for reforming the Burgher Guard 
must be published three months after its suspension;" we 
have declared the Burgher Guard of Berlin is dissolved ; and 
the competent authorities are hereby required to execute this 
decree.' 

" The Burgher Guard met and resolved not to disband, or 
to yield up their arms. During the day, foreigners arrived 
and families departed ; both ominous events. The people 
maintained a peaceable attitude, but were with difficulty re- 
strained. The Assembly continued its proceedings in the 
hall of the Rifle Guild-. Deputations and addresses from the 
provinces were announced : an important one from the As- 
sembly of Representatives of the two Mecklenburgs, applaud- 
ing the Assembly for its conduct, and promising- all assist- 
ance in their power ; another from Magdeburg, making a 
similar declaration, and sending five thousand dollars for the 
deputies, whose allowances were stopped ; others from Stet- 
tin, Anklam, &c. At six o'clock, General Wrangel deter- 
mined to place the city under martial-law j and the state of 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 151 



siege was shortly after proclaimed by officers at the corners 
of all the principal streets. But at the same time the inter- 
val was prolonged one day, for yielding up the arms of the 
Burgher Guard. The soldiers patrolled in large bodies and 
dispersed the crowd ; and the protesting members of the 
Left were again seen in all directions conjuring the people to 
disperse and to be quiet. The artisans of the great iron- 
works also hastened to and fro wherever excitement arose, 
and calmed it with the words, 'Be cool — be quiet !' 

" The night passed without any outbreak. On the 13th, the 
proceedings of the Assembly were interrupted by the entry 
of an officer from General Wrangel, summoning it, as an 
'illegal meeting, to disperse.' The vice-president, Plonies, 
was in the chair, and he refused to leave it unless by force. 
The whole house shouted, < Never, till forced by arms !' 
Upon this two or three officers, with a party of soldiers, 
entered, and repeating the summons received the same answer. 
Thereupon the soldiers advanced, seized the chair upon which 
M. Ploines was seated, and carried him as gently as possible 
into the street, where they deposited him safely. The mem- 
bers followed their president, unanimously protesting against 
this violation of his dignity. The military having performed 
their tragi-comic duty with great discretion, withdrew, and 
the mob dispersed, after bestowing an extempore ovation on 
their representatives. 

« During the whole of the 13th the people disregarded the 
proclamation of the state of siege, and continued to assemble 
in crowds wherever the military did not prevent them ; but 
they dispersed when the latter marched among their masses. 
Toward night a proclamation appeared, directing the soldiers 
to forbear no longer, but ' at once fire' on all persons who 
persisted in assembling, or remaining together after a sum- 
mons to withdraw. 

" The ex-President of the National Assembly, M. Grabow, 
had an audience with the king ; and the latter is said to have 
uttered the following words : — ' I know that my crown is at 
stake; nevertheless, I am firmly resolved not to yield.' 



152 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



"Notwithstanding their two expulsions, the state of siege, 
and the proclamation of martial law, the members of the As- 
sembly persevered in their attempts to meet. On the morning 
of the 15th they assembled in the hall of the Town Council, 
and were about to commence business, when a battalion of 
infantry drew up before the hall, and took possession of the 
doors. The officer in command entered, and politely, but 
peremptorily, requested the members to withdraw; at the 
same time he showed them General Wrangel's written order 
to that eflfect. The members, after a brief consultation to- 
gether, withdrew under protest, and the troops marched back 
to their barracks. 

" In the evening, 226 members met at Mielentz's, a coifee- 
house on the Linden, went through the formalities of opening 
a sitting, and proceeded at once to debate the question of 
refusing taxes. ' Two propositions,' says the report of the 
proceedings, 'were submitted for consideration.' The first, 
adopted by the committee, ran thus, — 

" 'No minister is authorized to levy taxes until this resolu- 
tion (for the non-payment of taxes submitted to the com- 
mittee) be revoked.' 

" The second motion, submitted by Shulz and others, was 
thus worded, — 

" ' The National Assembly decrees, that the Brandenburg 
Ministry is not authorized to levy taxes, or disburse the pub- 
lic money, until the National Assembly can fulfil its duties in 
safety at Berlin. This resolution will take eifect from the 
17th November next ensuing.' 

" The call of the house had scarcely terminated, however, 
ere a field officer entered the apartment, accompanied by 
half-a-dozen grenadiers, who were posted at the door, while a 
battalion of the same corps were drawn up at the entrance 
of the building on the Linden. The officer approached the 
president, and stated that he had received orders from Gene- 
ral Wrangel to cause the chamber to be evacuated. This 
message having been communicated by M. Unruh to the 
house, it was responded to by a general shout of, 'We will 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 153 



not stir!' President (to the officer.) — 'Sir, I must beg you 
to exhibit your warrant.' Officer. — ' I have no written order, 
but I trust you will believe my word.' President. — «I am 
far from questioning your word, but it is my duty to demand 
a written warrant.' Officer. — ' That is not in my power : 
General Wrangel declined to give me written instructions.' 
(Exclamations of 'This is shameful!') President. — 'Have 
you received orders to employ force?' 'I confidently trust,' 
replied the major, 'that you will not drive me to that alter- 
native.' < I must demand categorically,' exclaimed the presi- 
dent, ' whether you have, or have not, orders to employ force 
of arms?' 'I have,' rejoined the officer. President. — 'And 
are you resolved to employ it?' 'I am,' replied the major. 
(General silence ; during which the deputies looked at each 
other, whispered, but maintained perfect calmness.) Presi- 
dent. — ' Under these circumstances, I declare that force has 
been exercised toward the Assembly, and that I am com- 
pelled ' 

" The president was now interrupted by the whole Assem- 
bly rising, 'No, no ! a thousand times no ! We will not move 
from this room, although we were run through with bayonets !' 
Sixty or seventy deputies sprang toward the officer and his 
small escort, and by their excited gestures appeared disposed 
to drive them from the chamber ; while the remainder, in a 
state of indescribable excitement, crowded round the presi- 
dent's table. During this state of confusion and uproar, 
which lasted some time, the officer and his escort stood per- 
fectly qalm, but not without the precaution of communicating 
with the detachment outside. 

"At length, when silence was somewhat re-established, 
there was a general call from members, ' Continue the delibe- 
rations. We will hear of no more interruptions. Clear the 
chamber of strangers.' Upon this the major approached the 
chair, and, after conferring with the president, returned to 
his escort, and retired with them outside the door, while a 
messenger was despatched to headquarters for -further in- 
structions. The members now returned to their seats, and, . 



154 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



with infinitely more calmness and self-possession than could 
be expected, listened to the reading of M. Shulz's motion. 
This had scarcely terminated ere the "whole body rose and 
agreed to it, with a general shout of 'Yes, yes !' This deci- 
sion was no sooner known, than a triple hurrah was raised by 
the whole house, and was prolonged during several minutes 
amid indescribable enthusiasm. At length the president 
rose, and oflBcially announced the passing of the decree pro- 
hibiting the levying of taxes : he then proposed that the 
house should adjourn; and announced that he would commu- 
nicate to members individually the time, place, and hour for 
their next sitting. The members then dispersed. They 
dispersed, exulting in the cleverness with which they had 
outwitted the Brandenburg Ministry, and dealt it such a 
parting bloAV. After this exploit, the recusant section of the 
Assembly made no further attempt at meeting, although, to 
give full effect to the resolution against the payment of taxes, 
it ought to have been confirmed by a second vote. Victorious 
over the Constituent Assembly, the ministry proceeded with 
the utmost vigour in executing the still* more daring measure 
of disarming the Burgher Guard. Resistance was impossible, 
and the disarming was fully effected without the slightest 
disturbance. The truth seems to be, that a vast number of 
the citizens were, in secret, not ill-pleased to be relieved of 
the task of keeping watch and ward, and of the toils of mili- 
tary duty added to all the difficulties of life and business 
during a most depressed period. 

" An eye-witness of the struggle, writing from Berlin on 
the 19th, says : — 'All expression of public opinion being pro- 
hibited, there is a perfect quiet and apathy on the surface of 
things ; but beneath it there is, unquestionably, the most 
bitter and angry feeling against the government. The citi- 
zens do not grant, for a moment, that there was any real 
occasion for so extreme a measure as declaring the capital in 
a state of siege. They regard it as the completion of a long- 
contemplated plan, a fit opportunity for which was only waited 
for ; and that this was furnished by the events at Vienna, 



KEVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 155 



"without reference to the state of Berlin at all. Besides the 
humiliation of the disarming, the declaration of the state 
of siege has inflicted a loss on the city and its trade which 
they are very ill able to bear. Strangers avoid a place, the 
condition of which they imagine to be so alarming. Families 
who had begun to return have again fled, and large mansions 
are standing empty. The dreary aspect of the city is inde- 
scribable. The respectable inhabitants appear to keep pur- 
posely within doors. The streets are nearly deserted, being 
left almost wholly to a few working people and the military 
patrols. The wxather, the streets, trade, politics, tempers, 
and prospects, are all alike dark and discouraging.' 

" On the other hand, we find the same writer describing, 
only ten days later, a striking demonstration of loyalty which 
occurred at the Berlin Opera, where the busts of the king 
and queen were crowned amid the enthusiastic plaudits of the 
audience. 

"It is probable that the decision of the Frankfort Parlia- 
ment contributed not a little toward fixing public opinion in 
Prussia in favour of the king's policy. Reversing a former 
resolution, in which it had mildly censured the royal proceed- 
ings, the Imperial Assembly affirmed, on the 20th of Novem- 
ber, by a majority of 276 votes against 150, a resolution to 
the following efi"ect : — That the King of Prussia is earnestly 
advised to appoint a ministry which enjoys the confidence of 
the country. ' The notoriously illegal and dangerous resolu- 
tion of the residue of the Berlin Assembly' is declared to be 
null and void. The Imperial Assembly will protect the 
rights and liberties promised and guaranteed .to the people 
of Prussia, against all attempts to violate them. 

" On the appointed day, November 27, the Prussian Assem- 
bly met at Brandenburg ; but the Left kept their word and 
abstained from attending, and the Right and Centre were un- 
able to make more than three-fourths of a house. This state 
of things continued for some days. At last the members of 
the Left entered in a body, and completed a quorum; they 
then tried one vote, but finding themselves in a minority, they 



156 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



immediately withdrew, and again reduced the Assembly to an 
incapacity to vote. The remaining members adjourned to the 
7th of December, on which day it was expected that the Left 
would assemble in full strength, re-elect Unruh president, and 
affirm the resolutions prohibiting the levy of taxes. These 
manoeuvres were anticipated by the king and his ministers. 
On the 5th, appeared an edict dissolving the Assembly, and 
accompanying that decree was a complete draft of a con- 
stitution, which was to have force provisionally, until it should 
be assented to or revised in the ordinary course of legislation. 

" Thus ended the Prussian Revolution of 1848. The Assem- 
bly was beaten at all points, in right as well as in fact. Its 
neglected task had been taken out of its hands, and most 
satisfactorily performed by the executive. The new Prussian 
constitution closely resembles that of Belgium. It may be 
ranked among the most democratic in Europe, and acknow- 
ledged as fairly realizing for Prussia all the promises made 
by Frederick William in March."* 

A sudden enthusiasm in favor of Poland broke out in Ger- 
many in the first days of the revolutionary fervour. On the 
20th of March, the doors of the state-prison at Berlin were 
throAvn Open, and the condemned Poles came forth. An im- 
mense crowd accompanied them. The carriage in which 
Mieroslawski and his companions were seated, was drawn by 
the people to the palace, and thence to the university. 
Mieroslawski stood up, holding in his hand the black, red, and 
golden banner, and acknowledged the enthusiastic applause 
of the people by waving the standard of independence. On 
the following day a Polish deputation from Posen arrived in 
Berlin, and all its demands were conceded. The duchy was 
to be divided into moieties, the one Polish, the other German, 
and each was to have its own local administration. The exiles 
from Austrian and Prussian Poland were invited to return. 

But the Poles soon gave their enemies ground for asserting 
that they were not fitted to enjoy independence. Eight days 
after Mieroslawski' s liberation, civil war broke out in Posen 

* " Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 157 



between the Polish and German races, and for six weeks the 
country was filled with scenes of horror and disgusting bar- 
barity. Many prisoners were burnt, or disembowelled alive. 
Both parties acted like mad savages, fighting with guns, 
scythes, and every weapon that would kill or mutilate. At 
length, the terms of the partition were arranged. The line 
of demarcation was determined on the 26th of April, and on 
the 10th of the following month, the insurrection was termi- 
nated by the capture of Mieroslawski and the defeat of his 
band, the last outstanding remains of a Polish army of thirty 
thousand men. 

On the 31st of March, five hundred deputies from all parts 
of Germany held their first sitting in Frankfort, as a prelimi- 
nary assembly for the formation of a national parliament. 
Almost the first question they had to decide was, as to what 
territories should send representatives to the Central Assem- 
bly, and it was resolved unanimously, that Schleswig-Holstein 
should be invited to exercise that privilege, as forming part 
of the German Confederation. The same was declared with 
regard to the provinces of East and West Prussia. Some 
difference of opinion existed with regard to Posen, but at last 
it was agreed that since the retention of that province might 
impede the re-establishment of the independent kingdom of 
Poland, which all Germany wished most ardently to see libe- 
rated from the barbarous yoke of Russia, the Assembly would 
content itself with declaring that it would endeavour to find 
means for protecting the seven, hundred thousand Germans 
living in that province. The preliminary assembly (vorpar' 
lament\ further resolved, in concert with the Diet, that a 
national assembly should immediately be elected by universal 
sufirage, in the proportion of one member for every fifty thou- 
sand of the population, and that any German should be eligi- 
ble thereto for any part of Germany. 

Having made these arrangements, the preliminary assembly 
adjourned, but left behind it a permanent committee of fifty. 
This committee, with the seventeen "men of "confidence," 
whose voices were paramount in the Diet, constituted, from 




r;^' 



■^ 



NtW 



YORK, N. Y. 



V> 



LIBRARl 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 159 



the beginning of April to the middle of May, the supreme 
council that governed Germany. Besides drawing up a pro- 
ject of a constitution for the collective German states, another 
important part of its labours consisted in directing military 
operations against the armed republican party. The lake 
district of Baden was the only part of Germany where that 
party was not decidedly in the minority, and there only the 
republican flag was raised. It was hoisted in Constanz and 
Freiburg, under the protection of a free corps led by Hecker 
and Struve ; but its defenders were met within a week, (April 
20,) and totally routed by the forces of the Confederation. 
General Von Gagern, the commander of the latter, was 
treacherously murdered in a parley before the battle began. 
Hecker escaped ; Struve was taken prisoner, but soon after 
rescued. Freiburg was stormed on the 24th; Constanz was 
occupied on the same day, and the republic was brought to an 
end in both places. Herwegh, the poet and communist, arrived 
with his free corps from France too late to prevent the catas- 
trophe that had befallen his brethren. His own nine hundred 
men were totally routed on the 27th by a single company of 
Wurtemburg troops, with a loss of twenty-three killed, and 
two hundred taken prisoners. Hei'wegh, with his wife, who 
was armed and present in the fight, escaped to Switzerland. 

The German Parliament held its first sitting in Frankfort 
on the 18th of May, and elected as its president Heinrich Yon 
Gagern, an able and judicious man, and almost the only con- 
tinental statesman who passed through the ordeal of the last 
eight months of '48 with a steadily rising reputation. On the 
28th of June, the parliament enacted a law creating a pro- 
visional central power for the administration of all afiairs, 
civil and military, foreign and domestic, which afiect the whole 
of the German nation, that power to be confided to a Regent, 
(reicJisverweser,) elected by the National Assembly, and him- 
self irresponsible, but acting through responsible ministers. 
On the following day the Archduke John of Austria was 
elected Regent, by a very large majority. He arrived soon 
after in Frankfort, where he was received with great demon- 



160 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 




Archduke Jolin of Austria. 



strations of joy, and was solemnly installed in office on the 
12tli of July ; on which day also the High German Diet, born 
in 1815, held its s evenly- j&rst and last sitting, its power pass- 
ing into the hands of the Provisional Central Government. 

But the " German Empire" had more of form than sub- 
stance. An act of insubordination committed by the monarch 
who had professed to take the lead in constructing an impe- 
rial authority, led to an exposure of the weakness of the 
Frankfort government, and gave occasion to an open assault 
upon it, accompanied by circumstances of hideous atrocity. 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 161 



"War between Prussia and Denmark had arisen concerning 
the possession of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, and after 
many fluctuations of success, an armistice was concluded for 
seven months, the King of Prussia acting without consulting 
the central government. This excited a violent commotion 
in Frankfort. The Assembly, by a large majority, resolved 
to suspend the measures necessary for carrying into effect 
the armistice. Its sitting was attended with furious discus- 
sion. 

"The resolution of the Assembly was immediately followed 
by the resignation of the imperial ministry. Professor Dahl- 
man, the leader of the majority, having failed to form a 
ministry, the Assembly was compelled to retrace its steps, 
which it did by resolving on the 16th, by a majority of 257 
to 236, that the armistice should be allowed with the modifi- 
cations which Denmark herself had declared to be admissible. 
The populace assembled around St. Paul's and threatened an 
attack on the majority as they retired, but did not execute 
their threats. 

" Next day large out-door meetings assembled, and were 
addressed by Blum, Simon, and other republican leaders. 
Resolutions were passed denouncing the majority who ratified 
the armistice as guilty of ' high treason against the majesty, 
liberty, and honour of the German people.' The Senate of 
Frankfort sent word to the Regent that they would no longer 
guarantee order. The Regent induced part of his late min- 
istry to resume office provisionally: Schmerling took the 
combined Home, Foreign, and War Departments, and made 
prompt provisions against an outbreak ; bringing Austrian, 
Prussian, and Bavarian troops into Frankfort. 

"On Monday these measures were violently condemned in 
the Assembly by the left, but it was evident that the revolu- 
tionists were awed. Outside the populace began to pelt the 
soldiery with stones and to raise barricades. Schmerling 
declared the city in a state of siege. The defenders of the 
barricades were summoned to surrender, and on their refusing 
to comply they were attacked by the military. A sharp fight 



11 



162 REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



ensued, but the rioters were soon overcome, being ill-armed 
and not having the burghers on their side. By midnight 
every point was in the hands of the troops. 

"But before order was restored the horrible murder of 
Prince LichnoAvski and Major Auerswald had branded the 
republican party with indelible disgrace. After leaving the 
Assembly, of which they were members, they rode out of 
the town,' with the intention, it is supposed, of meeting the 
artillery, which was to arrive about five o'clock. Several 
shots being fired at them, they attempted to ride back to the 
town, but found that they were surrounded on all sides. 
They then endeavoured to escape across the fields, but Major 
Auerswald was quickly stopped and dragged from his horse. 
The assassins, having thrown him on the ground, coolly de- 
liberated where wounds would cause the greatest pain, and 
then fired into different parts of his body. Observing that 
life was not quite extinct they left him, saying it was all the 
better, because he would have the more to suffer; but an old 
woman put an end to the unfortunate gentleman's agony by 
battering his brains out with a stone. Prince Lichnowski, 
after galloping about a field from which he could find no out- 
let, returned to the public promenade, where he was seized 
by a number of men, who, having literally slashed, slit, and 
scraped the flesh from his arms and part of his legs, left him 
with the remark that this was enough for the present, and 
that he might afford them more sport when he had recovered 
a little. The prince, with the utmost difficulty, crawled to a 
neighbouring cottage, where he was kindly received. He had 
scarcely been there an hour when the same men, with many 
others, armed with guns, made their appearance and de- 
manded his immediate surrender, which the hospitable people 
of the cottage refused. The wretches then made prepara- 
tions to set fire to the house, and on hearing this the prince 
boldly stepped out to meet his fate. He was received with 
shouts of derision, and one of the leaders, dressed as a com- 
mon labourer, declared that as the prince had always been a 
kind of Don Quixote he ought to die so : accordingly, they 



KEVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 163 



pulled off his clothes and decked him with some sort of gro- 
tesque drapery ; then forming a circle around him and prick- 
ing him with their knives and bayonets, they compelled him 
to keep constantly in motion : at last, tired of this sport, 
they fastened him to a wall, and, at a distance of only ten 
yards, fired more than twenty balls, most of them intention- 
ally avoiding the vital parts ; but after he had received three 
mortal wounds they went away laughing, and left him to 
suffer a little longer. In this state he was found by a patrol 
of Hessian cavalry, and carried, by his own desire, to the 
hospital, where the rest of those wounded in the riot had 
been received. He expired about an hour past midnight, 
after dictating a minute relation of these horrid scenes. 

" The outbreak in Frankfort was soon followed by a second 
republican invasion of Baden. A column of two thousand 
men, consisting of Italians, Poles, French, and Germans, 
and headed by Struve, crossed the frontier from Switzerland 
on the 23d of September, but were speedily defeated by 
troops sent against them by the central government. Some 
hundred prisoners were taken, including Struve himself. He 
and eighty of his immediate followers were forthwith tried 
by court-martial, condemned, and shot. 

" The end of the year arrived before the new German con- 
stitution had come out of the makers' hands. There seemed 
at that period, an increasing probability that, if the Frank- 
fort proceedings did not end in utter failure, the King of 
Prussia, or his heir-presumptive, would be elected by the As- 
sembly as Emperor of Germany ; that is to say, of a German 
empire in which Austria is not to be included. The Regent's 
prime minister, (Schmerling,) and Wuth, the under-Secretary 
of State, both of them Austrian deputies, resigned office on 
the 16th of December, and Baron Von Gagern, who was 
known to be strongly in favour of the claims of Prussia, be- 
came the head of the cabinet. His first care was to lay be- 
fore the Assembly his views with regard to Austria, which 
were, in substance, that Austria, in conformity with her own 
declaration to that effect, should be considered as not forming 



164 



REVOLUTIONS IN GERMANY AND POLAND. 



part of the new Federal State ; but that as she was a mem- 
ber of the German Confederation, and therefore ' in indisso- 
luble alliance with Germany as represented by the Provisional 
Central,' she should be treated with by way of diplomatic 
negotiation on all topics of common interest, save only the 
constitution of the Federal State, as to which she was not to 
be consulted."* 

* «' Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 




166 OUTBEEAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 




Metternich. 



CHAPTER y. 



POPULAR OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 



Vienna felt the shock of the French Revolution. On the 
13th of March, the people arose, and after a short struggle 
obtained their demands. The Metternich ministry was dis- 
missed, and Ferdinand made several liberal grants, the chief 
of which, was the Assembly. For two months afterward, 
Vienna remained, as it were, "in a simmer." There was no 
violent commotion, but there was much dissatisfaction. The 



OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 167 



constitution of the Assembly was too aristocratic to please 
the liberal party. 

On the 13th of May, an order was issued for the dissolution 
of the central committee of the National Guard, consisting 
of about two hundred individuals, organized for political ob- 
jects, and which, backed as it was, by such a large array of 
physical force, threatened to overawe the constituted authori- 
ties. The students of the University took the lead in resist- 
ing this unpopular measure of the government, and on the 
morning of the 15th they preferred the following demands to 
the ministry : 1st, That the military, who, during the preced- 
ing night, had bivouacked in large numbers on the glacis, 
should be withdrawn. 2d, That the central committee of 
the National Guard should not be dissolved. 3d, That the 
law for the elections should be declared null and void. The 
ministers withstood the demands for a whole day. But they 
had no force to back them. About midnight, Pillersdorff, 
Minister of the Interior, issued a proclamation, conceding 
all asked for. A new revolution was thus ratified, for the 
constitution of April 25 was superceded, and it was settled 
that the Diet should consist of but one chamber. 

The next day the emperor and his family left the capital 
and fled to Innsprlick in the Tyrol. 

"The ministers and the whole population of Vienna were 
thrown into consternation, and messengers were despatched 
with the most pressing entreaties to recall the fugitives, who 
obstinately rejected all such overtures. Meanwhile the 
agents of the camarilla, and the aristocratic party who had 
counselled the emperor's flight, were taking pains to make 
that event subservient to their reactionary projects. They 
caused reports to be spread in the provincial towns that the 
Viennese had stormed the imperial palace, dragging the 
monarch from his bed, and ill-treated his sacred person. 
Having produced a strong feeling of pious horror in the pro- 
vinces by such stories as these, the reactionists prepared to 
make a coup de main in the capital. 

"On the 25th of May it was reported in Vienna, that three 



168 OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 



regiments were to enter the city at night, and the announce- 
ment spread universal alarm. On the following morning the 
Academical Legion received orders to disband within twenty- 
four houfs. On their refusal to lay down their arms, the 
gates of the town were shut and guarded by soldiers ; but the 
workmen from the suburbs stormed them, and one of the 
assailants, a workman, was killed in the conflict. This 
became the signal for a general insurrection, and once more 
barricades arose in every street. This state of things lasted 
until the night without further hostilities, and ended in the 
complete victory of the people, whose conditions were again, 
as on the 15th, accepted and ratified by the ministers. These 
conditions stipulated the continuance of the Academical Le- 
gion; the removal of the military to a distance of four 
leagues from Vienna ; and the return of the emperor within 
eight days, or the appointment of one of the princes to repre- 
sent him. 

"Peace was now restored; the barricades were taken down, 
and business was resumed. The Viennese were still, indeed, 
deprived of the presence of their emperor, who remained ill 
at Innspriick ; but he appointed his uncle, the Archduke John, 
to represent him in the capital, and open the Assembly in 
his name. This was accordingly done on the 22d of July, in 
a speech breathing amity and peace toward all the States of 
the Empire, and all foreign countries. Even of Italy the 
Archduke said, — " The war in Italy is not directed against 
the liberties of the people of that country: its real object is 
to maintain the honour of the Austrian arms in presence of 
the Italian powers, at the same time recognising their nation- 
ality, and to support the most important interests of the 
state. The emperor at last relented, and returned to his 
capital on the 12th of August ; and thus ended the second 
phase of the Viennese Revolution." 

The Bohemians took up the general hymn to freedom, and 
bore their part in the swelling chorus. Two days before the 
first movement in Vienna, a meeting was held in Prague, to 
draw up an address to the government. The demands agreed 



OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 169 



on were as follows : — Equality of tlie Tchech and German 
races; every public officer to be required to speak both 
languages ; union of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, gua- 
ranteed by a common Diet, which should meet alternately 
at Pra<TUC and Brun ; representative and municipal reform ; 
publicity of judicial proceedings; absolute liberty of the 
press ; a responsible chancery, sitting in Prague ; the arming 
of the people ; suppression of feudal rights and jurisdiction ; 
military service obligatory on all; security for personal 
liberty ; equality of all religious denominations. After much 
delay and evasion, the emperor granted the Bohemians all 
they desired, on the 8th of April. Bohemia was then restored 
to the condition of a substantive state, under the vice-royalty 
of the heir presumptive of the empire, the young Archduke, 
Francis Joseph. 

The effect of the imperial rescript was to raise the 
Tchechs, who were in the majority, and who generally spoke 
both lano'uages, from the condition of slaves to the possession 
of powei\ They filled all the offices. The old rancour broke 
out afresh between the races. The emperor encouraged the 
new order of things by appointing Count Leo Thun, a leader 
of the Tchechsj Burgrave, in the place of Count Stadion. 

The next movement was toward a union of the Sclavic 
nation. A congress was summoned to meet at Prague. It 
opened on the 2d of June, and was abruptly closed on the 
12th. But even in this short session, enough transpired to 
show the general nature of the revolution the Sclaves sought 
to effect in central Europe. The congress issued a -manifest 
to the nations of Christendom, declaring that they intended 
to form a central federation in Austria ; that they utterly 
repudiated all thought of Russian panslavism ; that being bent 
on obtaining full justice for all Sclaves, they would insist on 
reparation from Russia for the partition of Poland, and from 
Prussia, Saxony, Hungary, Austria, and Turkey, for their 
many aggressions upon the nationality of their Sclave sub- 
jects ; and that they solicited a European congress for the 
equitable adjustment of these claims. 



170 OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 




Count Leo Thun. 



The cordial unanimity which prevailed in the Prague Con- 
gress was most remarkable. Each branch of the great family 
freely surrendered some of its predilections for the common 
good. Conscious of the fatal errors and omissions of former 
revolutions, the Polish nobles in the Prague congress resolved 
to abolish all remains of feudal servitude, and to recognize 
the independence and equality of the two races and tongues 
in Gallicia. This display of the democratic spirit alarmed 
the Innspriick camarilla. 



OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 171 



" The Viennese ministry could not pardon the slight put 
upon it by the Provisional government of Bohemia, and it 
declared that body to be illegal and its acts null and void. 
This challenge was answered, as probably it was intended 
that it should be, by an insurrection which raged for five 
days, ending on the 17th of June ; nor was it put down until 
Prince Windischgratz, the Austrian commander, had bom- 
barded the town from the adjacent heights, and laid much of 
it in ruins. Prague relapsed into its former state of depen- 
dence on Vienna ; the Slavonic Congress was dispersed, and 
even the Bohemian parliament, which was to open on the 
18th of June, was indefinitely postponed ; but the triumph 
of Teutonism over Sclavism was far from having been con- 
summated. 

<' The atrocious cruelties committed by the insurgent Tchechs 
bore a strong family likeness to the horrors of which the Ta- 
borites were guilty during the Hussite wars. They cut off 
the noses and ears of the soldiers whom they took alive, and 
murdered them after having thus tormented them. Twenty- 
six hussars were thrown into the Moldau on the 13th, and a 
National Guard, who had shot two Tchechs in the perform- 
ance of his duty, was crucified on the door of his own house. 

"Almost the first shot fired in the insurrection killed the 
Princess Windischgratz in her own apartment. The prince's 
behaviour on this sad occasion stands in honourable contra'st 
with his later deeds. Owing to the prince's refusal to give 
cannon and ammunition to the students, a mob gathered 
round his house on the 12th, hooting, yelling, and threaten- 
ing. The military on duty having in vain called on them to 
disperse, and the fatal shot having been fired that deprived 
the unfortunate princess of life, the bereaved husband came 
out, and with great dignity and calmness thus addressed the 
rioters : — 

" ' Gentlemen — If it is your desire to insult me because I 
am of noble birth, go to my palace, and do there as you may 
think fit. I will even give you a guard that you may not be 
disturbed in your amusement. But if you act thus because I 



172 OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 



am commander of Prague, and purpose making a demonstra- 
tion in front of this building, I tell you candidly that I shall 
prevent such a step with every means at my command. My 
wife now lies a lifeless corpse above stairs, and yet I address 
you in words of kindness. Gentlemen, do not drive me to 
severe measures.' 

" The reply of the mob to this magnanimous speech was to 
seize the prince and drag him to the next lamp-post, where a 
rope was promptly forthcoming ; but the prince was rescued 
by his grenadiers, and in five minutes afterward the artillery 
swept the streets. The prince's son was mortally wounded 
in the aflfray.",* 

The Hungarian troubles, of which we shall hereafter give 
an account, caused the final and the most formidable insur- 
rection in Vienna. On the morning of the 6th of October, 
the German grenadiers, a regiment favourable to the popular 
cause, received orders to march and join the expedition 
against the Hungarians. Having been forewarned of those 
orders, the grenadiers had communicated with the National 
Guard of the suburb, in which their barracks were, and with 
the Academical Legion, both which corps promised that 
measures should be taken to prevent their departure. 

At mght, the confederates broke up the railway at some 
distance from the station, and erected a barricade on the 
Tabor bridge, which the battalion would have to cross before 
reaching the next station. The grenadiers were ordered jto 
storm the barricade, but they joined the insurgents. Cavalry, 
infantry, and artillery, were brought against them; but the 
confederates routed their foes and marched into the town. 
The conflict became general, and the government troops 
were everywhere defeated. The war-office was taken by 
storm, and Count Latour, the minister of war, was murdered. 
The arsenal was defended until the morning of the 7th, when 
it fell into the hands of the people, who thus became possessed 
of 100,000 muskets. On the 8th, Vienna was comparatively 

« « Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 



OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 



173 




Count Latour. 



quiet, the government troops having wholly evacuated the 
town. 

On the 6th, the Diet had assembled and elected Smolka 
president. The sitting was declared permanent. A com- 
mittee of safety, whose decrees were to be signed by the 
minister Hornbostel, was chosen, and a deputation was sent 
to the emperor to demand the formation of a popular cabinet, 
measures favourable to the Hungarians, and an amnesty for 
those implicated in the Vienna riots. Ferdinand returned 
an evasive answer, and then left Vienna, with his family, 
leaving behind a proclamation, in which he declared his in- 
tention to maintain his authority by force of arms. 

The Diet now assumed executive as well as legislative 
powers, and began, along with three ministers, to act as a 
provisional government. The forms of the constitution, how- 
ever, were strictly observed. Deputations were sent to in- 
vite the emperor to return, under the implied peril of forfeit- 



174 



OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 




Count Windisehgratz. 



ing his throne. Count Amersberg and Jellachich, who were 
in command of strong forces, were summoned to the aid of 
the Viennese, but they declined to obey. 

The emperor threw himself into the arms of the Sclavo- 
nians, the enemies of the Germans and Magyars. He 
arrived at Olmutz, in Moravia, on the 14th. Here he found 
a minister, M. Wessenberg, to countersign his proclamations, 
and feeling strong in the support of the Sclavonians, he 
threw off all disguise, declared open war against the rebels, ap- 
pointed Prince Windisehgratz commander-in-chief of all the 
forces, except those under Radetsky, in Italy, and gave the 
prince full power to do all things "according to his judg- 
ment, within the shortest time." On the 20th, he issued a 
proclamation, decreeing the removal of the Austrian Diet to 
to the small town of Kremsier, in Moravia, and summoning 
all its members to meet there on the 15th of November, in 
order to proceed with the mighty work of perfecting the 
constitution. 



OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 175 



<'Windischgratz had now arrived before Vienna, and invest- 
ed it with an army of some 100,000 men and one hundred and 
forty guns. Some days were spent in negotiation, both par- 
tics at the same time preparing for action. Messenhauser, 
the commander-in-chief of the National Guard, and General 
Bern, who acted under him, put the city in as good a posi- 
tion for defence as possible, and the population was perfectly 
ready for fighting. 

" The attack began on the morning of the 28th, and by 
evening all the northern and eastern suburbs were occupied. 
Next morning the southern suburbs were attacked, and from 
the interior of the city a column of smoke issued, as a signal 
of distress, calling upon the Hungarians for help. But the 
Hungarians withdrew to Briick. The Viennese now sent a 
deputation to Windischgratz with proposals of surrender. 
The prince refused to abate his previous demand for disarm- 
ing the working-men and the students, but agreed to suspend 
hostilities for twelve hours, while the besieged held a last de- 
liberation. 

" The deputation returned and summoned a meeting of the 
town council, which was attended by Messenhauser, the com- 
mander of the Academic Legion, and some members of the 
Diet. Messenhauser declared that he and the officers under 
him were ready to hold out if the council decided to do so ; 
but the situation was nearly desperate. The troops were in 
possession of the suburbs to the foot of the glacis, and the 
walls were incapable of general defence against escalade. 
On the question being put to the vote, it was resolved by 
three-fourths of the town-councillors that the defence should 
cease. Messenhauser, and his National Guards, with the 
chiefs of the students, set about carrying this resolution into 
effect ; and it was announced to Prince Windischgratz. A 
disarming had actually commenced on the 30th ; but the sen- 
tinels on St. Stephen's then announced that the Hungarians 
were advancing in full march from Briick, and were driving ' 
in the outposts of the besiegers. General Bern, the com- 
mander of the workmen, who formed the largest body of the 



176 OUTBEEAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 



defenders, had protested against the surrender agreed on the 
day before, and he and they seized on the announcement of 
the Hungarian advance to renew the conflict. This was done 
on all sides with greater activity than ever, and even with 
some partial successes ; but after the first surprise the Impe- 
rial troops drove the workmen back, and resumed all their 
advantageous positions. 

" On the 31st the Municipal Council endeavoured again to 
carry out the stipulations of the 29th. White flags of sur- 
render were hung out on the bastions, and from the houses ; 
the Imperial troops advanced, but a slaughtering fire was 
opened upon them. This so exasperated Prince Windisch- 
gratz, that he ordered a bombardment of the city and an at- 
tack by storm on three of the south and south-eastern gates. 
The library in the castle, several public buildings, and two 
churches were set on fire. The Burg Thor was carried by 
the troops, and a short but bloody fight began in the streets. 
The defenders being still, as on the 29th and 30th, divided 
among themselves — some only of them for fighting, more for 
yielding — the success of the besiegers was rapid ; and before 
midnight of the 31st the greater portion of the capital was 
subdued. On the 1st instant, the contest was still continued 
at detached points by a body of workmen and students ; and 
the most north-westerly parts of the city were not mastered 
till dawn of the 2d. These last frantic conflicts were waged 
between some students and Croats ; some of the foianer 
were thrown alive from the tops of the loftiest houses, and 
hardly any received quarter. The fire in the palace was 
extinguished without much injury to the books or archives ; 
but the church of the Augustines was destroyed. On the 2d, 
the submission of the whole city was complete. All the gates 
were closed ; all communication with the suburbs was pre- 
vented. Prince Windischgratz proclaimed, that in conse- 
quence of the breach of capitulation, the conditions which he 
had at first agreed to were null and void ; and the Academic 
Legion was for ever dissolved, and the National Guard dis- 
banded for an unlimited time. All newspapers and political 



OUTBKEAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 177 



associations were suspended ; all assemblages of more than 
ten persons were forbidden ; and a strict search was ordered 
for concealed arms. 

" The number killed on both sides in the storming of the 
Austrian capital is estimated at about two thousand five hun- 
dred ; the damage sustained by fire and pillage at about a 
million and a half sterling. The victory of the Imperialists, 
cruelly won, was infamously used. The horrors of the storm- 
ing were greatly aggravated by letting loose those lawless 
savages, the Croat soldiers, to plunder, burn, murder, and 
ravish. In a letter, written at Vienna on the 1st of November, 
the writer says : — ' The victory of the troops has been abused 
in the most inhuman manner. Instead of making prisoners 
of all who were found in arms, but who offered no resistance, 
and delivering them over for trial by courts-martial or other- 
wise, they were butchered singly without mercy ; and this 
not alone by the privates without orders, even officers boast 
of having given commands to that eflFect. An officer of the 
National Guard surprised by the military, and seeing his re- 
treat cut off, called out "Quarter !" but was shot on the spot. 
Persons in the streets in the evening were called to by the 
patrols to stand ; some in their terror endeavoured to get 
out of the way, and were immediately fired upon. I myself 
witnessed the death of two individuals who fell pierced with 
balls.' 

"As military occupant of Vienna, "Windischgratz exercised 
the powers of martial law with a vindictiveness no less impo- 
litic than ruthless. Daily, for more than a week, the courts- 
martial and the imperial executioners were busy condemning, 
hanging, and shooting prisoners, with a secrecy more becom- 
ing conscious murderers than ministers of justice.* It seemed 
as though Austria was resolved not to let those who used to 
tremble at the name of Spielberg, suppose that Austrian 

* It has been said that these alleged cruelties were greatly exaggerated, 
for that, in fact, only three executions took place /or high treason. A most 
pitiful quibble ! 

12 



178 OtJTBKEAKg IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 



domination had changed its nature in becoming nominally 
constitutional. The republican government of France showed 
mercy to the political prisoners in its hands, and spared from 
death even its unyielding antagonists in battle. The mo- 
narchial government of Austria no sooner regained for a time 
a little of its power, than it again resorted to the cruel con- 
duct which had long made it not only feared but hated. 
Among the many executions ordered by Windischgratz, two 
especially excited universal disgust. 

" Messenhauser, the brave commander of the National 
Guard, was shot, — an iniquitous act, which cannot be excused 
even on the poor plea of expediency. Imperial vengeance 
should have been restrained by the thought that the civil war 
had been solely provoked by gross Imperial treachery. A 
government that had such need of forgiveness would have 
acted wisely in forgiving. But Messenhauser was shot as a 
traitor ; and a chief instrument in bringing him to that fate 
was Jellachich, a man who had been declared a traitor in 
May, and who very soon afterward, without any atonement 
or change of conduct on his part, had been named com- 
mander-in-chief and Governor of Hungary. 

" Robert Blum of Leipsic, and Frbbel, his companion and 
colleague in the Frankfort Assembly, were both sentenced to 
death. Frobel survives, and his story strongly inculpates 
Windischgratz, who seems to have picked out the two senators 
from among the crowd that defended Vienna in order to- treat 
them with especial severity. Frobel was pardoned on the 
score of 'extenuating circumstances;' a conflict of harshness 
and leniency which indicates vacillating councils, and imparts 
a still darker aspect to the bad deed of shooting Blum. He 
should have been kept in custody, and handed over to the 
proper tribunal at Frankfort. To inflict a military sentence 
on a German senator, a man not fairly within Viennese ju- 
risdiction, was either a savage blunder or a wilful act of scorn 
and defiance cast upon the Imperial legislature at Frankfort. 
The latter supposition is probably the true one ; for Austria 
has scarcely ever condescended to disguise her antipathy to 



OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 179 




Robert Blum. 

the phantom empire of Germany. If it was her intention to 
outrage that feeble apparition, she knew that she could do so 
with impunity. The Assembly at Frankfort did indeed 
evince its just indignation in very strong language ; but it 
could do no more. The whole body rose and affirmed the 
following motion by unanimous acclamation, including the 
suffrages of the ministers Schmerling, an Austrian, Mohl, 
and Bekerath : — 

" 'The National Assembly, solemnly protesting before all 
Germany against the arrest and execution of Robert Blum, 
which acts were consummated in total disregard of the Impe- 
rial law of 30th September ultimo, calls upon the Imperial 
ministry to adopt the most strenuous measures for calling 
those parties to account who, either directly or indirectly, bear 
the guilt of the offence, and for securing their punishment.' 
Brave words, but nothing more ! Commissioners were sent 
to Vienna, a show of inquiry was made, and the matter was 
hushed up."* 

« "Kevolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. 



180 



OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 




Prince Schwartzenberg. 

The cruelty of Windischgratz caused a revulsion of feeling 
in Bohemia, and strong protests against his executions were 
made. The czar signified his approval of the conduct of the 
Austrian marshal, by sending him the grand cross of St. 
Andrew. Jellachich was rewarded for his services by the 
present of the grand cross of St. Vladimir. 

As soon as Windischgratz had completed his terrible re- 
venge for the murder of his wife and son, the Imperial go- 
vernment entered upon a conciliatory course. A new mi- 
nistry was formed as follows : Prince Felix Schwartzenberg, 
Premier and Foreign Minister ; Count Francis Stadion, In- 
terior; Baron Kraus, Finance; General Cordon, War; Dr. 
Bach, Justice; Rhinfeld, Worship; Bruck, Commerce and 
Public Works ; Threnfeld, Agriculture. Count Stadion sti- 
pulated that certain state councillors and some other instru- 
ments of Metternich, should be dismissed. 

The Diet assembled at Kremsier on the 22d of November. 



/ 



OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 181 




Count Stadion. 



Nearly all the members were present. On the 27th, the pre- 
mier delivered a speech, declaring the principle on which he 
and his colleagues proposed to act in their government. The 
regeneration of Austria was said to be the object of the new 
administration. All reactionary projects were disclaimed. 

The honour of the imperial name had been sullied past all 
cure in the person of Ferdinand. The weak monarch was 
despised by his subjects. A project, therefore, which had 
been openly discussed in May, after the flight to Innspriick, 
was now carried into effect, and on the 2d of December, the 
Emperor Ferdinand abdicated the Austrian throne ; Francis 
Charles, his next brother and legal heir, renounced the suc- 
cession ; and Francis Joseph, a young man of nineteen, and 
son of the renouncing Archduke, was proclaimed Emperor of 
Austria, &c., by the title of Francis Joseph I. This succes- 
sion was considered as the defeat of the Princess Sophia, the 
heart and soul of the Metternich party. The camarilla was 
broken up. The royal family separated. 



182 OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 




Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria. 

The inaugural proclamation of the young emperor is a pa- 
per •worthy of quotation : — 

"We, Francis Joseph I., by the grace of God Emperor of 
Austria, &c. 

"By the resignation of our beloved uncle, the Emperor and 
King Ferdinand the First, in Hungary and Bohemia of that 
name the Eighth, and by the resignation of our beloved father, 
the Lord Archduke Francis Charles, and summoned on the 
strength of the Pragmatic Sanction to assume the crown of 
this empire, proclaim hereby solemnly to our people the fact 
of our ascension to the throne, under the name of Francis 
Joseph the First. 



OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEMIA. 183 



"We are convinced of the necessity and the value of free 
institutions, and enter with confidence on the path of a pros- 
perous reformation of the monarchy. 

"On the basis of true liberty, on the basis of the equality 
of rights of all our people, and the equality of all citizens be- 
fore the law, and on the basis of their equally partaking in 
the representation and legislation, the country will rise to its 
ancient grandeur; it will acquire new strength to resist the 
storms of the time ; it will be a hall to shelter the tribes of 
many tongues united under the sceptre of our fathers. 

"Jealous of the glory of the crown, and resolved to preserve 
the monarchy uncurtailed, but ready to share our privilege 
with the representatives of our people, we hope, by the assist- 
ance of God and the co-operation of our people, to succeed in 
uniting all the countries and tribes of the monarchy into one 
integral state. We have had severe trials ; tranquillity and 
order have been disturbed in many parts of the empire. A 
civil war is even now raging in one part of the monarchy. 
Preparations have been made to restore legal order every- 
where. The conquest over rebellion and the return of domes- 
tic peace are the first conditions to the great work which we 
now take in hand. 

"In this we rely confidently on the sensible and candid co- 
operation of the nation by its representatives. 

"We rely on the sound sense of the loyal inhabitants of the 
country, whom the new laws on the abolition of servitude and 
imposts have admitted to a full enjoyment of civil rights. 

"We rely on the loyal servants of the state. 

"We expect our glorious army will persevere in their an- 
cient fidelity and bravery. They will continue to be a pillar 
of the throne, and a bulwark to the country and its free in- 
stitutions. 

"We shall be happy to reward merit, without any distinc- 
tion of birth or station. 

"People of Austria ! it is an awful time in which we mount 
the throne of our fathers. Great are the duties of our office, 
great is its responsibility. May God protect us." 



184 



OUTBREAKS IN VIENNA AND BOHEICLl. 



The good people of Vienna fondly expected, for their own 
share in the graces and bounties of the new reign, the imme- 
diate removal of the state of siege, and the arrival of their 
young emperor in the ancient capital of his dynasty. But 
they were doomed to disappointment in both respects. The 
emperor continued to reside at Olmiitz ; and as for the state 
of siege, it could only cease to exist with the rebellion in 
Hungary. The Imperial army could not afford to leave un- 
restrained in its rear a city of doubtful and even hostile sen- 
timents, while about to engage in a war which was likely to 
be both protracted and bloody. 




THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



185 




Kossuth. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



The struggle of the Hungarians for independence was the 
most brilliant of the events of the revolutionary period ; and 
its mournful close excited much sympathy throughout the 
civilized world. Of this great rising of the people, it is diffi- 
cult to give a clear and accurate account at the present time. 
Those who have written histories of the war are generally par- 
tisans, and the truth of their statements is therefore question- 
able. But by comparing records and taking those acts upon 
which the writers agree, we may possibly be able to convey 
some idea of the war, its warriors, its causes, and its results. 

Hungary was a powerful and prosperous kingdom when 
Austria and Russia were without recognition and influence 
abroad. In the tenth century, her king, known' as St. Ste- 



186 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 




Rodolph. of Hapsburgh. 

phen, gave her a wise and liberal constitution, whicli, with 
modifications rendered necessary by the progress of civiliza- 
tion, existed- until a late day. By that constitution, the 
powers of the sovereign were limited, and the just privileges 
of the people secured. The objectionable feature arose from 
the state of things in the Middle Ages ; the Diet was swayed 
by the feudal aristocracy. When the Emperor of Austria 
succeeded to the crown of Hungary, the nationality of the 
people was required to be recognised; he could not attain au- 
thority until elected by the Diet ; and he was always known 
to that body not as eriaperor, but as King of Hungary. The 
sovereigns of the House of Hapsburgh-Lorraine, from the time 
of its founder Rodolph of Hapsburgh, have ever striven to over- 
throw their nationality, and to nullify the provisions of the 
Hungarian constitution ; and to effect these ends they have 
employed that fatal net — setting race against race. Hungary 
gave the Hapsburgs a fair field for such operations, being in- 
habited by people of several races — the Magyars, who have 
long been dominant, the Sclaves, the Russians or Servians, 
the Wallachians, and the Germans. The population of the 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 187 



country numbers ten million five hundred thousand. The 
Magyars number about four million two hundred thousand, 
and are therefore in a minority. This race has ever been 
foremost in maintaining the nationality of Hungary, and 
Austria has sought to depress its power by exciting the 
others to insurrection. 

About 1832, a powerful liberal party was formed in the 
Diet, at the head of which was Wesselenyi. Among the most 
active of its advocates was the young Louis Kossuth, the 
since renowned orator, statesman, and patriot. This party 
not only opposed all attempts to violate the nationality of 
Hungary, but sought to elevate and improve the condition of 
the peasantry. In spite of threats, of persecution, and of 
dreadful imprisonment, Wesselenyi and his friends continued 
the struggle, and every day added to their strength and zeal. 

In 1847, the opposition was headed, in the Magnates, by 
Count Louis Batthyanyi, and in the lower house, by Louis 
Kossuth. These men were able, eloquent, and determined; 
the latter was omnipotent in his sphere, and idolized by the 
people. A general reform of the Hungarian Constitution 
was in progress. The immunity from taxation enjoyed by 
the nobles was abolished, and the municipal institutions and 
representation of the towns were in course of revision, when 
the news arrived that the French revolution had broken out 
and France had become a republic. 

A sympathetic movement was anticipated among the Hun- 
garians. Kossuth seized the occasion to make a powerful 
speech in the Diet, asserting in a daring yet dignified man- 
ner, the rights of the nation. An address to the sovereign 
was unanimously voted. 

" The day after the Emperor of Austria had become a con- 
stitutional monarch, he received a deputation of a thousand 
Hungarian gentlemen, headed by the Palatine, Archduke 
Stephen, and bearing the address, voted by the Diet. The 
demands preferred in that document were, — the nomination 
of a separate ministry for the kingdom, consisting solely of 
Hungarians, and responsible for all its acts to the Diet ; a 



188 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



new representation of the whole population, without distinc- 
tion of rank or birth ; the organization of a national guard ; 
the transference of the Diet from Presburg to Pesth ; and a 
liberal constitution for all the other states of the empire. 
Furthermore, the address declared it to be the firm intention 
of Hungary, as well as an essential condition of its welfare, 
to remain indissolublj united to the empire. 

" A part of these demands was hardly consistent with the 
pledge of union that accompanied them. For instance, not 
content with a distinct administration for the internal affairs 
of the kingdom, the Hungarians insisted on having their own 
ministry of foreign affairs, a thing clearly incompatible with 
any kind of state federation. How is it possible to reconcile 
with the idea of an imperial unity the existence of separate 
and perhaps contrary relations with foreign countries ? Na- 
tions so situated with respect to each other may severally 
obey the same sovereign, like Great Britain and Hanover 
under the Georges, but they cannot form parts of one em- 
pire. 

"But the court of Vienna was just then in no condition to 
be critical. The demands of the Hungarians were granted 
in their fullest extent, and a new administration was formed 
under the presidency of Count Batthyanyi ; the leader of the 
opposition in the Chamber of Magnates. The department 
of finance was occupied by Kossuth. Under his influence 
the Diet forthwith consummated all those important internal 
reforms which had been begun by the spontaneous movement 
of the generous Hungarian nobles, and which had been 
steadily prosecuted up to the moment when the European 
revolution broke out.. The last remains of the oppressive 
feudal system were swept away. The peasants were declared 
free from all seignorial claims ; in other words, the tenants 
of one-half the lands in Hungary were declared the possessors 
of that land, rent free, the landlords to be indemnified by 
the country at large. The peasant and the burgher were at 
once admitted to all the rights of nobles ; and a new electoral 
law was passed, conferring the suffrage on all who possessed 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 189 



property to the amount of three hundred florins, or thirty 
pounds sterling. After decreeing these important measures, 
the Diet was dissolved, and a new Diet was summoned for 
the second of July. During the recess the Diet of Transyl- 
vania met, and voted the union of that country to Hungary, 
from which it had been separated for more than two hundred 
years."* 

The cabinet of Vienna now had recourse to the policy 
which had so often proved successful. The Croats were 
stimulated to revolt, and to demand the same concessions 
which had been made to the Magyars. The able Jellachich, 
Ban of Crotia, was the agent in this scheme. Although the 
emperor declared him a traitor, his appearance at court and 
the favour shown him, soon taught the leaders of the Hun- 
garian Diet the source of his moA^ements. At his instiga- 
gation, the Servians committed terrible outrages upon the 
frontier. 

At length, on the 9th of September, 1848, Jellachich, at 
the head of an army of Croats, Servians, and Wallachians, 
numbering about thirty thousand, crossed the Drave, and en- 
tered upon Hungarian soil. He said he came as an Imperial 
Lieutenant Field Marshal to put down the revolution. What 
revolution ? Vienna had sanctioned the measures of the 
Magyars. Jellachich met with but a trifling resistance. 
Moga, the commander of the Hungarians, would not meet 
him, and no struggle off importance had occurred, when in- 
telligence reached Pesth that the Ban was within a day's 
march of the capital. 

Meanwhile the landsturm, or general levy, had collected 
in the counties of Sumeg and Szlad, and swarmed around the 
Croats on all sides : for the Hungarian peasants were not, 
like their officers, perplexed by a divided allegiance, and they 
simply sought to strike the Croats dead. Similar risings 
were preparing in the counties of Wessprim, Weissenburg, 
and Pesth. The enemy was harassed incessantly day and 

* "Revolutions of 1848," by W. S. Chase. ' 



190 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



night, and obliged to fight for every wagon-load of provisions. 
A considerable force was concentrated under Moga between 
Pesth and Stuhlweissenburg ; thousands of volunteers came 
flocking in from all sides ; and as the enemy advanced toward 
the metropolis, the eagerness for battle increased in the 
Magyar ranks. 

Between Stuhlweissenburg and Buda, about half a mile 
distant from the former town, is situated the village of Ve- 
lentze, on the northern point of the lake of the same name. 
The Hungarians had taken up their positions between Ve- 
lentze, Sukoro, Pakozd, as far as Martonvasar, Sept. 29 ; and 
here, amid vineyards which had scarcely put forth their 
earliest shoots, the first battle was fought, and Jellachich was 
defeated. 

Had the Hungarians at that time possessed resolute leaders, 
the career of Jellachich would have terminated at Velentze.. 
The hussars besought their officers for permission to annihi- 
late the treacherous enemy ; the enthusiasm of the volun- 
teers, after this first success, rose to the highest pitch ; the 
landsturm were ready to cut ofi" the enemy in their flight man 
by man. Jellachich begged for a truce of three days, which 
was generously granted him. 

He now meditated an escape at any cost ; for even without 
encountering the risk of a battle, he saw before him the de- 
struction of his army. The Croats were beginning to sufier 
from want of provisions, the landsturm stopped all supplies 
from the south, and single bands of marauders were captured 
in the villages and destroyed. To escape from unconditional 
surrender, Jellachich hrohe the truce, and under shelter of 
night stole away with his army from the territory on which 
he had originally planried his operations, to gain the Upper 
Danube and the Austrian frontier, from whence he intended 
to slink back home along Styria. He abandoned to their 
fate his army of reserve, nine thousand men strong, who were 
taken prisoners by Perczel, together with their commanding 
generals. Roth and Philippovich. 

The pursuit of Jellachich was followed up tardily and more 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 191 



in show that reality. The fugitive Croats reached Pressburg 
in the most miserable plight, and pillaging as they fled, in 
spite of the thousand bastinadoes which, according to his own 
statement, the ban distributed day after day. Here Jel- 
lachich received the first precise information of the Vienna 
October revolution, of Latour's murder, and the flight of the 
emperor. 

Couriers from Count Auersperg, then commandant of 
Vienna, and from the court, who on their flight to Olmutz 
had received news of the retreat of the ban to Pressburg, 
brought Jellachich the invitation or command to join Auer- 
sperg's troops, in order to crush the revolution in the metro- 
polis. This invitation could not have arrived at a better 
time ; the ban's resolution was at once taken. He crossed 
the frontier of the archduchy, and encamped before the gates 
of Vienna ; for, as imperial general, he followed the. thunder 
of the cannon, and felt called upon to put down the anarchy 
in Vienna. 

For twenty successive days, the Viennese had repulsed 
every assault of the imperial troops. Along the whole extent 
of the lines of fortification, the heavy artillery played, with 
brief intermissions, throughout the day ; and when it grew 
dark, the ill-fated city was encompassed by a sea of fire, to 
which the surrounding timber-yards, barns, and villages fell 
a prey. The Hungarian army, encamped around Pressburg, 
up to the river Leytha, remained all this time inactive, in 
spite of repeated orders from the committee of defence to 
cross the frontier and advance to the relief of the metropolis. 
Moga contrived to excuse his dilatory tactics until, at last, 
Kossuth himself was despatched to inspect the position of the 
army and take some decisive step. 

Kossuth had not been at Pressburg for seven months. In 
this city and its immediate environs were assembled all the 
the forces that represented the main Hungarian army, that 
inspired the Viennese in their straitened position with so 
much hope, that embarrassed the Austrian^ diet, and cost the 
court at Olmutz many a sleepless night. 



192 THE EEVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



Two regiments of hussars, fourteen to fifteen thousand re- 
gular troops of the line, together with a body of twenty thou- 
sand untrained soldiers of the national guard and militia, 
about constituted the forces which had to try the fortune of 
war against the Austrians under Windischgratz and Jel- 
lachich. 

All in the camp pressed eagerly forward to see the fa- 
vourite of the nation, who was greeted with the loudest accla- 
mations by the troops. The Hungarian regiments especially 
rejoiced at the thought of being led against the enemy ; but 
their officers were more than ever doubtful and dissatisfied 
when they saw that Kossuth was resolved on their marching 
to Vienna. 

Kossuth's reasoning prevailed in the council of war, — " it 
is not yet too late." If he was deceived, the fault partly 
rested with the deputies from the Viennese guards, legiona-. 
ries, and clubs, who at the risk of their lives and in various 
disguises, appeared singly in the Hungarian camp, and re- 
presented the means of defence in Vienna in a greatly exag- 
gerated light. 

Had Moga followed in the track of the ban, and not have 
allowed him time to unite with Auersperg, and take up a 
position before the walls of Vienna, the result would have 
been placed beyond a doubt. The Hungarians would have 
marched to Vienna without encountering any material resist- 
ance, the diet and the people would have gained a better 
knowledge of their position and their power, the revolution 
would have assumed a new and imposing aspect, embracing 
the whole archduchy, Moravia, Galicia^ and very probably 
Bohemia likewise ; the struggle would have certainly com- 
menced under difierent auspices, even if the result had been 
eventually the same, which is not probable. 

But the important opportunity was allowed to slip. A 
battle was fought at Schwechat, and the Hungarians were 
worsted. The fault of that unfortunate event is laid to the 
charge of the Viennese, for having neglected to make a sally ; 
but such reasons can only be used as a consolatory argument 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



193 




Gorgey. 



to the common soldier, to keep up his courage and confidence ; 
in any other light the excuse is inadmissible. Windischgratz 
had forces enough assembled to have repelled any sally of a 
few thousand students and Mobile guards, which could only 
have been attended with a still greater sacrifice of human 

13 



194 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



life, and no prospect of success. The battle of Schwechat, 
regarded from any point of view, was a forlorn enterprise, 
which might have terminated fatally, had Jellachich pos- 
sessed the skill to take advantage of his advantageous posi- 
tion. But he was too little of a general for this, and more- 
over under the orders of a Windischgratz, whom no one will 
any longer call a genius. 

Moga exposed his troops in this engagement in an unpar- 
donable manner ; and the main body of the Magyar army 
would have been lost, had not the retreat been ordered in 
time. On this occasion the great talent of Kossuth displayed 
itself: with a keen penetration and discernment, possessed 
only by men of highly gifted natures, he detected among 
thousands the man worthy to take the future command of the 
army. It was Arthur Gorgey who first directed Kossuth's 
attention to t*he faulty tactics of Moga.* 

With the exception of the storming of the village of 
Mannswerth, on which occasion the excellent Guyon won his 
first laurels, no military achievement of any importance oc- 
curred at the battle of Schwechat. The retreat of the na- 
tional guards and militia was a shameful flight ; the whole 
road to Pressburg was covered with shoes, which the fugitives 
had flung away ; behind them marched the regular troops, 
in the best order, cursing the cowardice of their country, 
men, "who were unworthy," said they, "for the Hungarian 
soil to bear them." 

Moga was removed from the chief command by Kossuth, 
who acted in the name of the committee of national defence- 
and Gorgey was invested with the rank of general. "The 
nation," wrote Kossuth to the House of Representatives, 
" has conferred on me the honour of its confidence in the direc- 
tion of public afiairs. May the nation likewise place confi- 
den in a man whom I trust from the bottom of my heart, and 
whom I have found worthy to take the command of our army." 

After the battle of Schwechat, Gorgey held the chief com- 

* Kossuth raised Gorgey to the rank of general upon the field of battle, 
and invested him with the command the following day. 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 195 



mand. The aged Moga presented himself voluntarily before 
the Austrian court-martial, and, after an arrest of several 
months, during the continuance of the examination, he was 
sentenced to be deprived of his rank of an Austrian general, 
to lose his orders and titles, and to be imprisoned in a fortress 
for five years. On the morning of the 31st of October, Gor- 
gey was a colonel in the army, — on the 1st of November, he 
was general-in-chief of the Hungarian army of the Danube. 
Kossuth quitted the camp to retu];n to Pesth. 

Gorgey allowed the inhabitants of the county of Komom, 
who wished it, to return home; but those who preferred to 
remain with the army were enlisted and armed. On the so- 
called Sauhaide, behind Pressburg, Slovacks were seen exer- 
cising in their koppeniks, (woollen cloaks,) Magyars in their 
bunda, (furred cloaks,) Jurats in their handsome attila, (laced 
coat,) students in their blouse, and burghers in very respecta- 
ble-looking dress coats, — in mingled, parti-coloured array. 
Meanwhile the main body of the regular troops kept watch 
along the Austrian frontier, to prevent any interruption of 
the practice of these recruits by the imperialists; and seldom 
a day passed without some skirmish or engagement taking 
place at the outposts. At the same time, throughout the en- 
tire district, in front and at the back of Pressburg, earth-walls 
were thrown up, bridges pulled down and new ones erected, 
footpaths stopped up, and ditches dug, as if the army intended 
to hold this position for the winter. 

Affairs went on thus through the month of November. At 
length winter begin to set in, snow fell, and Windischgratz 
set in motion his land armada. Early in November he broke 
up his quarters, and marched from Vienna toward the Hun- 
garian frontier. The divisions of his army crossed it at dif- 
ferent points, and the Hungarians everywhere retired. At 
Pressburg they carried oflf with them the bridge of boats, and 
doubtless the inhabitants were glad to get rid of them at such 
a price ; they had always dreaded lest their city should be- 
come the theatre of murderous scenes, and they should be 
forced to act the part of heroes against their will. The Aus- 



196 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



trian wHIte-jackets were therefore received mtli tears of 
dastardly emotion. 

The Hungarian army marched past Pressburg. The snow 
fell in large flakes, the wind blew icy cold, and the feet of the 
cavalry froze in their stirrups. For both parties, the campaign 
opened in no very agreeable manner. The soldiers could 
hardly see a hundred steps before them, so densely was the 
plain enveloped in a veil of snow and clouds. Encountering 
a few unimportant skirmishes on their route, the Hungarians 
came to Wieselburg, and marched thence to Raab. The for- 
tifications were abandoned without a blow. 

One division of the army passed the Danube at Komorn, 
and advanced to Waitzen ; the other half continued its march 
along the right bank. Other divisions had retired previously 
by (Edenburn and Tyrnau. At Babolna and Moor the su- 
perior forces of the Austrians were victorious ; in the latter 
place, especially, a battle was fought, in which the Hunga- 
rians suffered a heavy loss, notwithstanding the courage and 
resolution displayed by Perczel and his troops. This praise 
is due to Perczel on all occasions. He was not particular in 
the choice of his positions, and attacked the enemy or waited 
to be attacked as it might happen — a want of discretion for 
which he had to pay dearly in the Bacska ; but he has on all 
occasions shown himself a brave soldier, and would have en- 
gaged an enemy in the middle of a morass. 

It required all the weight of Kossuth's personal authority 
to quiet the left side of the chamber, who considered, the 
abandonment of the metropolis as a disgrace to the Hungarian 
nation, and overwhelmed the minister of war with reproaches. 
Kossuth succeeded, an^ the removal of the Diet to Debreczin, 
together with the plan of the winter campaign, were almost 
unanimously adopted. Szegedin and Grosswardein were also 
mentioned as places of retreat for the government, but the 
proposition was overruled. 

It was further resolved to placard the result of this debate, 
but it is uncertain whether this was done: indeed, it was 
afterward asserted by merchants at Pesth, that the people 



THE HEVOLtTTION IN HUNGARY. 197 



had not the slightest anticipation of the near approach of the 
Austrians, until their first columns were actually descried on 
the march to Buda. Ludicrously enough, these merchants 
had gone at noon into the cafe of the Casino, close to the 
chain-bridge, and were engaged in reading a placard just put 
out by Csanyi, entreating the citizens not to be anxious, as 
there was nothing to fear for the metropolis, when the ad- 
vanced columns of the Austrian cavalry appeared on the other 
side of the bridge. 

At the same time, the last column of the Hungarians 
marched off on the opposite side. Csanyi, it was asserted, 
had not left the city the next day, when Windischgratz and 
Jpllachich made their solemn entrance. Kossuth was said 
to have laboured for three days and nights uninterruptedly, 
directing and superintending the removal of all the stores; 
and so little was he prepared for this retreat, that the devoted 
heroism of Perczel at Moor alone enabled him to carry ofl" the 
banknote press from Pesth in perfect order. 

To Debreczin all these effects were safely transported, and 
in that town there was a general reassembling of friends. 
Some, however, remained behind, and among the rest Count 
Louis Batthyanyi, who attempted to conciliate Prince Win- 
dischgratz, but was imprisoned. 

Prince Windischgratz was now in possession of the metro- 
polis of Hungary and the cradle of the revolution. Pesth 
presented a peaceful aspect. No trace of rebellion was to 
be seen. The prince and his officers must themselves have 
been surprised at having traversed such an extent of country, 
from Vienna to Pesth, with scarcely any opposition. Where- 
ever he had hitherto appeared, his adversaries had retreated 
before him. Prague was prostrate at his feet, as soon as he 
announced his will and pleasure to the venerable royal city 
by his iron messengers : Vienna had been compelled to sub- 
mit, notwithstanding the heroic bravery of her youths : and 
now the dreaded Magyars, avoiding any encounter with him, 
had quitted both their old and new metropolis, had abandoned 
to him without a blow the fair western portion of their country. 



198 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



It was quite as little anticipated at Vienna as at Pesth 
that the war would still be protracted, that the rejoicings over 
the successful termination of the campaign were premature, 
or that the great and sanguinary drama was in preparation 
beyond the Theiss, the last act of which was supposed to be 
already concluded. The very fact that such ignorance could 
possibly exist is not the least proof of the universal rising 
throughout the country, of the general enthusiasm, the great- 
ness of the nation, the devoted patriotism of every man and 
— the want of skill in the Austrian general. 

It seems almost incredible, that in Debreczin an army 
could be asseinbled by beat of drum, equipped, armed, accou- 
tred, organized, provided with ammunition, artillery, and 
every requisite, without the Austrians gaining any certain 
information of what was in preparation beyond the Theiss. 

Everywhere the utmost zeal and diligence were manifested 
by the workmen, while Kossuth was the life and soul of the 
general activity, of wnich indistinct rumours only reached tho 
enemy's camp. Every day saw a new battalion ready for 
the field, which relieved another on the line of the Theiss, 
and was trained by service on the outposts for the approach- 
ing struggle. And yet the Austrian generals perceived 
nothing of these preparations ! 

For some time, not only the metropolis, but Kossuth and 
the government were in entire ignorance of the route which 
Gorgey had taken, although his army was the main support 
of the country threatened with such imminent peril. About 
four days after the entrance of the imperialists into Pesth, it 
was rumoured that Gorgey had defeated the Austrians near 
Waitzen. The truth - was as follows : On the night of the 
4th of January, the last corps of Gorgey's army, which had 
occupied the right bank of the Danube, abandoned its posi- 
tion around Promontor and the defiles of the Buda Mountains, 
and crossed the frozen Danube below Old Buda, at Margaret 
Island, with a view to gain the road to Waitzen. The rear 
guard had not yet come up, when the Austrian columns ap- 
peared before Buda. From Waitzen, Gorgey marched to 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 199 



Ipoly-Sag, and there allowed his wearied troops some rest. 
The Austrian generalissimo rested at Buda, at the same time 
sending in advance strong cavalry detachments in all direc- 
tions, to reconnoitre the enemy and secure Buda from a sur- 
prise. One of these detachments followed unawares in the 
very footsteps of the main Hungarian army, and came to 
Ipoly-Sag. 

Near this place is a wooded height, on the summit of which 
are situated a chapel and a convent. At its foot extends a 
narrow ravine, separating the fenced convent-garden from the 
hill on which the chapel stands ; and in this garden Gorgey 
had posted a strong division of Honveds with some cannon. 
He ordered loopholes to be pierced in this boarded fence for 
his fusileers and artillerymen, and then had these holes pasted 
over so as to act as a blind screen. 

The ravine was to serve as a trap for the imperialists, and 
the stratagem succeeded. Their pioneers passed the ravine, 
and not a sound betrayed the vicinity of the enemy ; but no 
sooner had the chief detachment reached the middle of the 
defile, than the guns opened a fire upon them from the whole 
line of fence, and several hundred imperialists fell. Their 
vanguard was destroyed, and Gorgey's rearguard under 
Benyicky, with their trophies of victory — a cannon and 
several hundred prisoners — followed the main body of the 
army, which was advancing by forced marches in the direc- 
tion of Kremnitz and Schemnitz. At this last town a bul- 
letin issued by Prince Windischgratz announced the defeat 
of Gorgey, with the loss of five hundred men and eight 
cannon. Gorgey's intention was now to spread his army, 
and by a combined mountain warfare to keep the whole force 
of the Austrians engaged ; which would allow the other corps 
on the Theiss to gain time, and consolidate and organize 
their forces. 

At this point commence the remarkable manoeuvres of this 
young general, which deserve to rank beside the boldest and 
most splendid achievements of any period in history. In the 
depth of a severe winter he led his troops and artillery over 



200 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNaART. 



the Carpathians, one while appearing on the frontiers of 
Galicia, at another in the mountain towns and villages, — 
escaping, pursuing, or pursued. All this, moreover, without 
incurring any loss ; nay, when in the following month he joined 
the other Hungarian corps on the Theiss, his army was more 
numerous and better equipped than when he started from the 
mountains of Old Buda ; his officers and troops were better 
schooled and disciplined than any other in the army, and 
they followed their youthful leader, whom they idolized, with 
implicit confidence and devotion. No fewer than three divi- 
sions had followed in his track to annihilate him, and a 
forth was ready to close the road into Galicia to his advance. 

Nearly at the same time that Windischgratz despatched 
from Buda the main body of his army toward Szolnok, he 
sent about eight thousand men in the direction of the moun- 
tain towns, to pursue Gorgey and at the same time to support 
Schlik. This corps pressed on the rear of the Hungarian 
army from the south, but without coming up with it. The 
second Austrian corps, sent in pursuit, nearly sixteen thou- 
sand men strong, advanced from Tyrnau under Simunich and 
Gotz, driving before it the brave Guyon, who with three 
thousand men halted at the latter town, gave battle to the 
Austrians, and came off with the loss of half his men. This 
corps was consequently advancing from the west. 

At the same time that Windischgratz started from Vienna, 
Count Schlik set out from Galicia, intending to enter Hun- 
gary from the north. He had the command of from eight 
to ten thousand able troops, and is unquestionably the brav-est 
and most skilful of the imperialist generals : his march across 
the Carpathians is no less remarkable than that of Gorgey. 
These two generals were opponents worthy of one another; 
and their manoeuvres form the most interesting military 
feature of the whole campaign. 

As long as Schlik had to act against the excellent but un- 
skilful Meszaros, he had an easy game to play ; he defeated 
him at Barcza, deceived him by the simplest manoeuvres, and 
advanced up to the right bank of the Theiss at Tokaj. Here, 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 201 



however, he found from experience, and at the cost of a 
battle, (at Talja,) that the command had been transferred 
from Meszaros to more skilful hands. It was Klapka who 
won the first real battle against Schlik, and against the 
Austrians generally — the same Klapka who fired the last 
shot against Austria, the most fortunate of the Hungarian 
generals. 

Scblik now experienced one defeat after another; he was 
obliged to retreat to Kaschau, and halted at Eperies ; while 
Gorgey, pressed as he was on two sides, was efiiecting his 
winter marches and countermarches over fields and mountains 
of ice and snow. He turned northward to Zips, his native 
country,* shut in on three sides; while Hammerstein in 
Galicia ordered all the disposable troops to the frontier to 
oppose his fourth and last exit. 

Gorgey was well aware of the desperate nature of his posi- 
tion ; but only the more merriment prevailed in his camp ; 
wherever he halted, he gave splendid balls to his officers, and 
treated them sumptuously. This was his invariable practice 
at critical periods : thus at Schemitz he commanded a ball, 
at the very moment when thousands were busy loading the 
coined and uncoined money upon wagons, while the miners 
were filling up the shafts, in order to deprive the enemy of 
any advantage from those rich mines, and while he was en- 
listing the miners themselves, nearly fifteen hundred men, as 
pioneers in his corps, which they entered joyfully. In like 
manner his officers were dancing at Iglo, and on the 5th of 
February, (the birthday of their young general,) at Leutschau, 
while Schlik at the head of seven thousand men was occupy- 
ing the Pass of Branisko, with a view to obstruct the enemy's 
escape eastward. 

* Szemere, in Ms capacity of Hungarian government commissioner, ren- 
dered great services at this time. Unaided, he organized five thousand 
guerilla troops, and contributed much to the success of Klapka's campaign 
against Schlik, by his indefatigable efforts and his influence with the popu- 
lation of the country ; he had been at an earlier period Vice-gespann of the 
Borschod county. 



202 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



The only road from Leutschau to Kaschau and Eperies 
leads through this defile, which winds among the mountains 
in a steep ascent of four leagues. The Austrians had barri- 
caded the entrance of this defile in the ablest manner, and 
formed a position which four thousand men could defend for 
several days against a hundred thousand. 

Gorgey reached Iglo too late to take possession of this 
pass. His vanguard had been surprised two nights before, 
through the negligence of the outposts, and a great portion 
of his artillery was only saved by the most heroic valour of 
his troops. The train of guns was halting in the street of a 
village, when the Austrians unexpectedly attacked them : the 
rockets flew into the place, and would have destroyed the 
whole store of ammunition, together with the dwellings of the 
peasants and Honveds, had not the people run out at the 
risk of their lives, in a cold winter's night, some in their 
shirts, and covering the wagons with wet mats, dragged them 
to and fro, so as to protect the ammunition from the rockets, 
whose direction could be distinctly traced in the air. The 
enemy was repulsed, and Gorgey's loss was trifling : his out- 
posts were taught caution by experience, and the Austrians 
cannot boast of having surprised an Hungarian camp a se- 
cond time. 

We left Gorgey in the midst of the ball. While the regi- 
mental bands were playing Hungarian airs and German 
waltzes, Guyon, at the command of the general-in-chief, was 
advancing at the head of eight thousand Honveds toward the 
Pass of Branisko. The country people around, — Germans, 
like most of the inhabitants of the Zips, but everywhere with 
Magyar sympathies — conducted him by secret paths to the 
foot of the mountains wKich enclose the proper defile. Here 
Guyon ordered four of his battalions to lay down their arms ; 
and for five whole hours they climbed up steep footpaths, 
known only to the natives of the country, carrying the dis- 
mantled cannon piecemeal on their shoulders, or dragging 
them together with the necessary ammunition after them by 
ropes. From eight o'clock in the evening till one o'clock in 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNaARY. 203 



the morning, this heroic band were winding up the steep 
mountain paths, making their way over rocks and snow-drifts, 
beset with incredible difficulties and hardships, in a cold win- 
ter's night ; while the rest of the troops at the entrance of 
the pass were continually making feigned attacks, to divert 
the attention of the Austrians, and prevent the silence of the 
night betraying the movements of the troops engaged in the 
ascent. 

It was past midnight when the first cannon-shot came 
thundering from the heights down into the dark valley. This 
was the signal for a general attack. Ten successive times did 
the troops stationed below advance to the assault, braving 
death, while from above the shot thundered into the depths 
of the ravine. The Austrians witnessed with terror and dis- 
may the destruction in their ranks : they abandoned one in- 
trenchment after another, fighting as they retreated, and in 
the utmost confusion attempted to gain the opposite outlet 
of the pass. A great portion of their artillery and a third 
part of the troops were lost in this retreat ; the slaughter 
was unprecedented; and the next morning Gorgey's vanguard 
passed through the defile, which Guyon and his brave troops^ 
had unclosed to them. 

Schlik, who had considered Gorgey as buried alive, drew 
his sabre in a fury, when a major brought him the news to 
Eperies of the defeat at Branisko. « Dogs that ye are — all 
of you dogs !" he exclaimed : " that pass I would have held 
against a hundred thousand men !" He instantly decamped 
from Eperies, to escape Gorgey's superior forces, and took 
the route to Kaschau. There he heard that Klapka was ad- 
vancing, who since the battle of Talja had lost sight of him ; 
and he was now fixed in the same position as Gorgey had 
been in the very evening before. But Schlik was acquainted 
with the northern counties of Hungary, as well as his enemy, 
and by masterly manoeuvres he succeeded in escaping, by 
Jaszo, Rosenau, and Rima-Szombat, to Losoncz, and subse- 
quently efiecting a junction with the main Austrian army. 
Of the army which he led from Galicia, not one-fourth re- 



204 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY, 



turned, and yet he might boldly claim the gratitude of the 
emperor. No other of the Austrian generals would have 
saved a single horse-shoe — probably not his own person — 
from the hands of the Hungarians and the defiles of the 
Carpathians. 

The road to the Theiss was now open to Gorgey : the Aus- 
trian corps of Gotz remained behind in the mountains. Ham- 
merstein, according to Austrian reports, had the last few 
weeks . been advancing vigorously from Galicia, but had not 
yet made his appearance ; while the fourth Austrian corps, 
which had been despatched from Pesth to support Schlik, had 
already received orders to march back again, for reasons 
which will be explained by the following occurrences. 

Perczel had advanced from Moor direct upon Pesth, and 
in order to refute the rumour of his defeat, which had caused 
such consternation at Pesth, he reviewed his troops in the 
market-place, wishing to prove that he had not altogether 
lost above five hundred men. We shall not stop to examine 
the accuracy of his calculations any more than did the citi- 
zens of Pesth ; they received him Avith hurrahs, and on the 
4th of January he again crossed the bridge to Buda, and 
thence proceeded into the counties of the Theiss : for a long 
time no tidings were heard of him, and all was comparatively 
quiet on the Theiss. 

Prince Windischgratz had dispatched the greater part of 
his troops to the east ; the railroad was reopened to Szolnok, 
and this important point was occupied by the Ottinger bri- 
gade. In this position the Austrians were attacked on the 
23d of January ; and owing to the unpardonable negligence 
of their commanders, they suffered one of the most signal de- 
feats during the whole war. The Csikoses were the very men 
for such daring attacks, bold and energetic in their move- 
ments, and rushing into the very midst of the enemy, they 
were close at hand before Szolnok, when the trumpet of the 
Austrian cuirassiers sounded to horse ; the generals barely 
saved themselves by flight, while the oflBcers rode oif, mostly 
without saddle, and the common soldiers were cut down in 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNaARY. 205 



tlie stables before they could mount tbeir horses : a portion 
of the artillery and ammunition-wagons remained imbedded 
in the morass. There was no battle, but the Austrians sus- 
tained a greater loss than in many a regular encounter, where 
the cannonade continues from morning to night. 

The consternation was great at headquarters ; Windischgratz 
even meditated the possibility of a retreat from Pesth, and 
dispatched all the troops he could spare toward Czegled, with 
a view to retard the enemy's movements. At the same time, 
he recalled the corps which he had sent northward in pursuit 
of Gorgey and to support Schlik. The plans of the Hunga- 
rians did not, however, at that time extend farther than Szol- 
nok and the batteries of the Ottenger brigade ; they again 
withdrew with their trophies across the Theiss. 

Simunich also returned to the north together with the Gotz 
brigade, leaving only small garrisons in the deserted towns. 
After the fall of Leopoldstadt, (February 2d,) he had been 
ordered to assume the chief command of the Komorn corps 
of observation, which was greatly thinned by sickness and 
sorties, and constantly required to be recruited. 

The fortress of Esseg likewise capitulated to the Austrians, 
who, under the Lieutenant-fieldmarshals Theodorovich and 
Trebersburg, had invested it with a considerable force. The 
lower town was taken by storm, and Casimir Batthyanyi, the 
commandant of the fortress, fled : favourable terms were 
granted to the garrison, and they returned to their homes. 
Thus in the course of a fortnight the Hungarians lost two 
fortresses, which would afterward have proved of great ad- 
vantage to them. 

Temeswar and Arad were better defended against the Hun- 
garians by the imperial generals Rukawina and Berger. The 
plans of the former general — of penetrating as far as Gross- 
wardein and sharing actively in the operations from the south 
— were never carried out ; but Rukawina heroically defended 
his isolated post against Vecker and Vecksey, who were bet- 
ter able to meet the hangman Haynau courageously in the 
field (Arad, October 6±h, 1849) than to besiege fortresses. 



206 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



Berget held out vrith equal bravery at Arad for many months ; 
and had it not been that his artillerymen were more mercifully 
disposed to the town at their feet than himself, (they had 
their old love-affairs and friends in the place,) there would 
not have remained one stone upon another; for the town was 
bombarded no less than ten times from the fortress. This 
place deserves to be noted in the history of Hungary as one 
of the most faithful and devoted to the national cause. 

Peterwardein, Komorn, Munkacs, still held out. The first 
two may be considered impregnable. .Between the Drave 
and the Danube — ^between the Danube and the Theiss — to 
the right, to the left — now pursuing, now pursued, conquer- 
ing or defeated — especially opposed to Nugent — Perczel and 
Damianich marched to and fro with their corps, until at 
length Gorgey, about the middle of February, drew their ' 
forces toward his army, with a view to aid in striking one 
great and general blow. They had to cover the southern 
passage of the Theiss, and formed the extreme left wing of 
the centre Magyar army, where we shall afterward meet one 
of them, together with Guyon, in the field against Jellachich. 

Such was, in short, the position of the Hungarian army at 
the end of February. With the exceptions of the expedi- 
tions of Schlik and Gorgey in the north, no operations of 
importance had taken place. Windischgratz published bulle- 
tins of victories, equally devoid of sense and truth. His 
army was scattered, whereas the Hungarian generals had con- 
centrated their forces with a view to assume the offensive. 

Bern, the Polish general, had disappeared from the stage 
of public life during the eighteen years of peace that followed 
the insurrection of his native country. On the field of Ostro- 
lenka his fame as a great military genius was established. 
Yet Europe had forgotten him when the revolution of Octo- 
ber occurred in Vienna. He then presented himself to Mes- 
senhauser, the commander-in-chief of the National Guard, and 
when a proclamation of his character and fame had won the 
confidence of the people, he was invested with the chief com- 
mand of the insurgents. Bem's extraordinary energy, cou.- 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 207 



rage, and presence of mind excited tlie wonder of the Vien- 
nese, and they obeyed his orders with a sort of awe. But 
all his exertions of heroism and military skill were of no 
avail against the numbers and discipline of the enemy, and 
the city fell into the hands of the imperialists. Bem, with a 
ministerial passport lent him by Pulsky, left the city when 
all hope had fled, and, meeting Kossuth on board the steam- 
boat at Komorn, accompanied him to Pesth. At that place 
the Polish hero obtained permission to attempt the conquest 
of Transylvania. 

The first day of Bem's stay at Pesth, an attempt was made 
on his life by a young Polish fanatic. He was alone in his 
room when the man entered, and said, " I believe I have the 
pleasm-e of addressing General Bem ?" With these words he 
drew a pistol from his pocket, and fired it at the general. 
Bem received a shot in his cheek, and for a long time he 
wore a large black plaster, which covered half his face, and 
was certainly no improvement to his looks. The young man 
escaped without punishment : he had been possessed with the 
fixed idea that Bem had betrayed Vienna, and was now seek- 
ing to play the same game in Hungary. 

On the 26th of November, a large crowd was collected be- 
fore the hotel in which Bem was staying. At the door stood 
a light carriage and four. It was said that the general was 
setting out on a journey, and there was a great curiosity to 
see him. He came down, and, without heeding the eljens of 
the crowd, he stepped into the carriage, taking with him a 
small bundle, which constituted his whole baggage. Thus did 
Bem sally forth to conquer Transylvania. 

In that country he found not a single fortified place in the 
hands of the Hungarians ; but the more he felt their import- 
ance, the more anxious he was to gain possession of them. 
He found no infantry, but a brave and resolute population, — 
no cavalry, but excellent horsemen, — no army, but all the 
elements to create one. A few companies of Szekler soldiers 
of the frontier, and about seven thousand Honveds, with two 



208 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



well horsed batteries, were to form the nucleus around which 
the genius of Bern was to assemble an armj. 

Besides the allied races that flocked to his standard, many 
Poles, who had stealthily crossed the mountains, sought ser- 
vice under Bern. The Polish corps and the German legion 
— which latter was originally from two to five hundred men 
strong, but had repeatedly to be recruited — ^were the bravest 
of his troops. He knew the valour of his countrymen of old; 
the heroic courage of the German youths he had still to learn , 
and to appreciate. Kossuth also sent him three complete 
batteries, but without horses or attendants ; these he had 
himself to provide. The artillery was the service for which 
Bem's genius was peculiarly adapted, and his chief manoeuvres 
were executed with this force, which, terrible in its very 
nature, was much more dangerous in his hands. 

The "rebel-chief" attached great importance to his bat- 
teries, and although he occasionally intrusted his cavalry and 
infantry to subordinate officers, he always superintended the 
service of his artillery himself. Previous to a battle he ap- 
pointed the positions they were to take up, and examined 
and levelled them, usually with his own hand, whence he re- 
ceived from his German legion the nickname of the "Piano- 
forte-player." 

After spending four weeks in completing and organizing 
his army, Bern advanced on the 20th of December, and was 
in Klausenburg at the time when the imperialists entered 
Pesth. His first advance was overpowering: Lieutenant- 
fieldmarshal Wardener was driven back to Klausenburg^- and 
Colonel Urban to the Bukowina. Klausenburg was taken at 
the first assault ; Urban, who, in conjunction with Malkow- 
sky, had again advanced up to Bistriz, was a second time 
forced back into the Bukowina. Bistriz, Klausenburg, 
Thorda, with the surrounding country, were all occupied, 
and established as a gathering-point for men and arms of the 
Szeklers. In the course of a few days two Austrian corps 
and three generals were driven out of the country, and the 
passes were secured, so as to oppose their return. 



THE EEVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 209 



Bern now marched southward into the Saxon-land, where 
Puchner and the German population, who had been called to 
arms, were expecting him. On he advanced, overthrowing 
every obstacle that opposed his march from Thorda to Rad- 
noth and Megyes. In the latter town the fugitives made a 
stand, in order to retreat to Hermannstadt, after a short but 
murderous conflict. Here Puchner was awaiting him with 
the whole of his forces. Bem's troops attacked him, and 
fought from morning till noon for the possession of this 
capital, which was heroically defended by the Saxon national 
guards. Bem was compelled to retreat, and took up his head- 
quarters at Stolzenburg, two German miles from Hermann- 
stadt. 

On the 4th of February, Puchner assumed the offensive. 
The two armies met at Salzburg ; Bem's artillery, which he 
had posted on the line of hills, repulsed all the attacks of the 
enemy, who again retreated for shelter to Hermannstadt. 
Bem followed them, renewed the battle a second time before 
the city with an enemy whose force was three times as strong 
as his own, and was repulsed with considerable loss. 

He returned by the same road, but did not halt until 
reaching Szasz-Varos, in order not to have the strongly for- 
tified imperial castle of Karlsburg in his rear. But here 
likewise he was unable to stop, and marched to Deva, de- 
stroying the bridge over Strehl, after he had passed. 

Close to this bridge lies the village of Piski. On the 9th 
of February, the Austrians and Hungarians fought one of 
the bloodiest battles of this campaign, for the possession of 
this village and bridge. Never had Puchner's columns ad- 
vanced to the attack with greater valour and perseverance, 
— never had the Hungarians, Poles, and the German legion 
faced them with such determination and cool contempt of 
death. Bem was victorious. Puchner was compelled to re- 
treat with great loss. He retired to Hermannstadt: his 
right wing was no doubt glad to make a halt at Karlsburg, 
for the impetuous attacks of the Szekler hussars had cut them 
off from the main corps. 

14 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 211 



Eight days before the battle of Piski, the first Russian 
columns set foot on the soil of Transylvania. Cronstadt was 
garrisoned with six thousand men, and Hermannstadt with 
eight thousand. General Luders and Freitag were ready to 
march on the first invitation ; so that there can exist no doubt 
that they received orders direct from St. Petersburg. The 
fact that the invitation was made in the name of the threat- 
ened towns of the Saxon-land, and accepted, can be regarded 
at the present day only as the effect on Austria and Russia 
of the suspicious aspect of French and English diplomacy. 
It is now quite superfluous to adduce proofs that the Vienna 
cabinet, in spite of all their protestations, had at that very time 
already entered upon negotiations with Russia and sought 
her assistance. That this was insufiicient, and only amused 
Europe with the spectacle of a Russian defeat, is a fact which 
the czar will never forgive either Luders or Bern. Even the 
issue of the war, to which the colossal armies of Russia so 
largely contributed, can never wipe out the first disgrace at 
Hermannstadt. 

The news that Russia had at length thrown her sword into 
the balance caused the greatest excitement throughout Eu- 
rope. All parties were alarmed at the new alliance entered 
into by the emperors, although it had for a long time been 
anticipated and talked of in every part of the world ; all par- 
ties crossed themselves with a devout shudder before such a 
prospect of the restoration of peace ; and only those anointed 
heads, who live in the belief that they are superior to the 
rest of the world, hailed the long-desired champion of abso- 
lutism with silent satisfaction and good wishes. 

On the other hand, the confidence of the imperial Austrian 
generals in Transylvania, which had forsaken them in the 
last encounter with Rem, now revived. Colonel Urban ven- 
tured out from his intrenchments at Bistriz, with a view to 
annihilate the Hungarian Colonel Ritzko and his little band. 
Although he did not succeed, Ritzko was driven from his 
position at Baiersdorf, and fell severely wounded into the 
hands of the enemy on the 18th of February. . Urban him- 



212 - THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



self was obliged to return immediately to Bistriz. There he 
remained, until Bem drove him back to the Bukowina, from 
whence, in company with Malkowski, he had an opportunity 
of seeing the last Austrians and Russians turn their backs 
on the fair land of Transylvania. 

Bem now for the third time attacked Hermannstadt, and 
came up with the Austrians at Megyes, (Mediasch.) The 
battle lasted (March 3d) from morning till late at night, and 
ended with the defeat of the Hungarians. They retreated 
toward Maros Vasarhely, the Austrians quickly following up 
their advantage. But whenever the Austrian generals en- 
deavoured to execute rapid manoeuvres, they invariably 
failed. While intending to pursue Bem, they followed only 
one division of his army ; Bem himself, by a masterly flank 
march, turned from Megyes along the River Kukullo toward 
Muhlenbach, and coming from the west appeared before Her- 
mannstadt on the 14th. 

The garrison left in this town consisted of 8000 Russians 
and 2000 Austrians : Bem had 9000 men and the requisite 
artillery. With this force he stormed the town, after having 
in vain summoned the garrison to surrender. The defence 
of the Russians was not such as to inspire the inhabitants 
with any great respect for the black eagle : after a short 
fight, they abandoned the place in a disorderly flight. Bem 
took several hundred Russian prisoners and eight cannon, 
and sent them to Debreczin, to show Kossuth that the Rus- 
sians were mortal like other men. 

" March 15th. — In my despatch I had the • happiness to 
mention, that I had sent a corps against the Rothenthurm 
Pass, in order as effectually as possible to cut off the commu- 
nication of the enemy with Wallachia. The division could 
not however advance far, as the whole Austrian army was in 
Freck, and consequently separated only by a mountain-ridge 
from the defile, and thus my troops were threatened on the 
flank as they advanced. Nevertheless I got possession of this 
defile by a circuitous movement : and I shall not only defend 
this, but at the same time press the enemy in the direction 




Jellachicli. 



NEW YORK. N. Y, 



LIBRARY 



214 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



of Gronstadt, from whence they will have great difficulty to 
pass the Carpathians in case they endeavour to fly to Wallachia. 

" I shall commence these military operations this very day, 
etc. etc. Bem." 

" Head-quarters, Rothenthurm, 16th of March. — My ope- 
rations yesterday, for driving the Russians from the Rothen- 
thurm Pass, were crowned with such success, that the same 
night at eleven o'clock, we dislodged the Russians from this 
strong position. The 15th of March, the birthday of national 
freedom, could not be celebrated more worthily. At five 
o'clock this afternoon the Russians took to the wildest flight, 
heels over head. Four Austrian generals, Puchner, Pfars- 
man, Graser, and Jovich, have fled with three companies to 
Wallachia. I have myself very carefully inspected the Ro- 
thenthurm Pass, and made such dispositions, that the Rus- 
sians will find a diiBficulty in re-attempting to force their way 
through it. I have despatched another division of my army 
in pursuit of the Austrians, who, according to the reports 
given by the prisoners we have taken, have fled dispirited 
and in disorder toward Cronstadt. Their main force is at 
Fogarasch, but the rearguard has only just quitted Freck. 
The enemy broke down the bridge over the Olt behind them, 
which checked our pursuit for a time. Now, after the bridge 
has been restored, I shall continue the pursuit with all possi- 
ble vigour. I hope to take Cronstadt in the course of three 
or four days, whereby the imperial Austrian army will be in 
part annihilated, in part dispersed, and at all events rendered 
incapable of disturbing the internal rest of this country.- It 
will then be an easier task to reduce to obedience the single 
Wallachian bands, which still make their appearance. 

" Postscript. — After the taking of Cronstadt I shall im- 
mediately set out with a division for Hungary. Rem." 

Four days later Cronstadt was in his hands. The Russians 
fled through the Tomos Pass, and the Austrians through the 
Torzburg Pass, into Wallachia, — twenty-one thousand men 
Strong, according to official reports, with three thousand 
horses and fifty cannons, the Russians not included. 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNaARY. 215 



Thus was Transylvania, with the exception of Carlsburg, 
in the hands of the Hungarians. Bern had accomplished the 
most astonishing and incredible exploit. With a newly 
raised army, but just come from drill, and which never 
equalled the numerical force of the enemy, he had in the 
space of ten weeks defeated and driven out of the country, 
five corps of the enemy, twice traversed the mountain-ranges 
from north to south, seized a great number of strong positions, 
taken cannon, arms, and horses, made about five thousand 
prisoners, occupied the passes of the country from the inte- 
rior, and at the same time raised and organized an army 
comparable to any in Europe. 

Another Polish hero and military genius now came to the 
aid of the Hungarians in the person of Dembinski. This 
general was at one time the idol of his countrymen, and con- 
sidered a commander of extraordinary skill. His previous 
history will be found in another part of this work. 

At the instigation of Count Ladislaus Teleki, he left Paris, 
and repaired to Hungary by way of Galicia, through the 
county of Zips. His arrival was immediately published, 
with a sketch of his biography, in the "Kozlony," (Adver- 
tiser.) The other Hungarian newspapers copied this account, 
and the news reached Gorgey, (who, on his expeditions into 
the northern countries, was often cut off from any direct 
communication with the government,) that Dembinski had 
been appointed by Kossuth commander-in-chief, — Dembinski, 
who Avas on all sides called the first strategist of his age. This 
was enough to excite Gorgey's jealousy ; he was Dembinski's 
enemy even before he had made his acquaintance. 

After the storming of the Branisko Pass, there was no 
further obstacle to Gorgey's joining the main army ; he met 
Klapa, in whose head-quarters he made the acquaintance of 
Dembinski. The Polish general had been for some time at 
Debreczin, where he consulted with Kossuth and the principal 
generals on the plan for the spring campaign. He fully ap- 
proved of the defensive manoeuvres on the Theiss, as they had 
been commenced and executed throughout the last two 



216 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



months, and only awaited Gorgey's arrival to assume the 
offensive. 

Gorgey was received with that respectful deference which 
his talents had a right to claim. Dembinski, above all others, 
was capable of appreciating the masterly execution of the last 
manoeuvres of the young general. But Gorgey was reserved, 
and surrounded himself with a party who were ever after ac- 
tively opposed to Kossuth and Dembinski. 

This disunion was for the first time manifest in the battle 
of Kapolna. Dembinski had made the plan of the battle, and 
commanded the centre in his own person ; Damianich com- 
manded the left wing; Gorgey, with his picked troops, the 
right. He had raised objections to Dembinski's dispositions 
in the general council of war, but he yielded to the majority 
of voices, and took up his appointed post. Had he persisted 
in his objections, and in withholding his assent to the plan of 
battle, he would have acted more honourably. But he led on 
his troops merely to let them figure as spectators ; the entire 
right wing, upon whose attack the plan principally rested, re- 
mained inactive, and restricted itself to a defensive position: 
the troops of Damianich and Dembinski in vain stood the fire 
of the Austrians, and were forced to abandon the field to the 
enemy. The loss on both sides may have been equally great, 
(the accounts on this point are very contradictory,) but the 
Hungarians lost the battle, and were obliged to retreat toward 
the Theiss. This was on the 26th, 27th, and 28th of Febru- 
ary. 

Much blood flowed on both sides, and in vain : for Win- 
dischgratz Was not skilful enough to follow up his advantage 
after the battle of Kapolna. He sent a pompous bulletin to 
Vienna, whence it was forwarded to Olmutz. This Avas the 
long-expected signal for the Schwarzenberg-Stadion ministry. 
The battle of Kapolna gave no decisive turn to the Hungarian 
war, but assisted the octroy ee constitution of the 4th of March 
through the pangs of birth, and annihilated the diet at Krem- 
sier. After such a victorious bulletin as that which was issued 
by the chancery of the field-marshal, there was nothing more 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 217 



to be feared from Hungary and the other provinces. The 
battle was lost through Gorgey : the gain of Austria was a 
paper charter, and the advantage of being thenceforth go- 
verned by ordinances. 

Great confusion reigned in the camp of the Magyars. Kos- 
suth trembled at the consequences of such a division among 
the chief generals, which must peril every thing. He exerted 
himself to the utmost to reconcile the opponents ; but each 
one adduced proofs, reasons, witnesses, for the correctness of 
his conduct. Kossuth, who on this occasion had for the first 
time a glance into the fathomless abyss of ambition which 
Gorgey concealed under a quiet, simple, unpretending exte- 
rior, took him aside, and said to him, as friend to friend, 
"Brother, confess to me what thou desirest and wouldst have. 
Let me into the secret of thy wishes, and I will labour to 
satisfy them. "Wouldst thou be dictator of Hungary ? thou 
shalt be it through me. Wouldst thou possess the crown of 
power — thou shalt have it, — only save our country!" 

Gorgey protested that his only wish, his only prayer was 
for the welfare of Hungary ; and for this reason he could not 
consent to intrust it to foreign hands, who were less formed 
for the task, &c. 

Dembinski behaved in the same high-minded and noble 
manner to Gorgey as on a former occasion toward Skrzyneki. 
From his considerate conduct, he had then to share in the 
disfavour which Skrzyneki had incurred with the patriots ; in 
the present instance he voluntarily retired in the background, 
and resigned the chief command to Gorgey. The latter, in 
conjunction with Dembinski, Guyon, Klapa, and Damianich, 
fought the following battles. They were conducted with 
youthful ardour, circumspection, great strategical skill, and 
well-founded confidence in the valour of the Hungarian troops : 
they have immortalized Gorgey. 

After the battle of Kapolna, the Hungarian army again 
retreated toward the Theiss, and during the next few weeks 
there was a suspension of the military operations of the two 
main armies. The prince had moved his headquarters back 



218 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



to Buda on the 5th of March, with a view to co-operate in the 
projected organization of the country. He considered his 
presence more necessary there than in the camp ; for, not- 
withstanding the imposing force which he had seen assembled 
before him within the last few days, his pride was unwilling 
to acknowledge the enemy's superiority and the impending 
danger. His generals shared this unpardonable contempt of 
the enemy, and thus it happened that on the same day, 
(March 5th,) the Karger brigade, through the unaccountable 
remissness of their commander, was surprised at Szolnob by 
Damianich, and suffered a loss still more terrible than that of 
the Ottinger brigade, of which we have before spoken. 

Karger was superseded ; Szolnok was again occupied with 
a stronger force, and the field-marshal prepared, as he did 
after every defeat, to assume the offensive. The Gotz brigade 
was advanced to Tokay, Jablonowsky was posted at Miskolez, 
Schlik in and around Erlau, and the main body of the army 
was distributed from that point to Szolnok. On the extreme 
right was posted the ban ; but the headqiiarters were in Buda, 
and the field-marshal himself did not advance to Godollo till 
the 3d of April. 

On the 23d of March, the day of the battle of No vara, the 
Hungarians began to advance slowly from all sides. The 
first blow was strucK against Baja in the south, and the pas- 
sage of the Danube forced at that point. In the course of 
this campaign Baja was alternately taken and lost ten times : 
on the 1st of April it was finally abandoned by the Austrians, 
who did not return until supported by the Russians. 

The forces of the Hungarians were now deployed along the 
whole line* of the Theiss, from Tokay to Szegedin. All the 
operations that had been planned and prepared on the further 
side, were to be carried into execution on this side of that 
river. The general advance of, the troops commenced from 
east to west, and overthrew every obstacle that opposed their 
progress. No mention has hitherto been made either of the 
Hungarian or Austrian bulletins of victory; they were both 
uncertain in their statements, and no decisive result could be 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 219 



gathered from them. From the moment, however, when the 
entire Hungarian army — both the corps on either wing and 
in the centre — simultaneously assumed the oflFensive, the plan 
of the campaign, its conduct, and consequences became at 
once manifest. The bulletins of Prince Windischgratz are no 
less amusing than remarkable in point of style : as relates to 
the history of the campaign, they have not a tittle of import- 
ance. 

From the end of March until the 10th of April, — that is to 
say, from the beginning of the main attack upon the imperial 
army until the taking of Waitzen, — the Hungarians fought 
their most famous battles under the command of Gorgey. 
Properly speaking, these engagements constituted only one 
great battle, w^hich lasted fourteen days, and in which the 
ground was every day shifted ; every hour the Hungarians 
advanced toward Pesth, every hour they won point after point 
from the Austrians in hand-to-hand fighting. These battles, 
which began at Szolnok, and had first a short suspension be- 
hind Dunakess, which comprise the glorious days of Nagy- 
Sarlo, Packs, and Komorn, terminated with the taking of 
Pesth, the relief of Komorn, and the complete retreat of the 
imperialists. 

Against Windischgratz, Gotz, Schlik, and Jablonowsky, 
were arrayed Gorgey, Dembinski, Repassy, and Klapka; to 
the Croat Jellachich was opposed the Servian Damianich. 

On the 2d of April, the Csorich division, which was con- 
centrated in Waitzen, set out for Hatvan. It came too late ; 
Gyongyos was already in the hands of the enemy. Schlik, 
who had been stationed at Hatvan, was unable to save his 
corps from a complete defeat; Captain Kalchberg was his 
protecting angel, and with a few companies defended the 
bridge at Hatvan, over the river Ragyva, thus covering the 
retreat of the fugitives. Csorich, who had been ordered to 
support him, had no course left but to retire by the same road 
he had come. Jellachich, who was to have advanced to Hat- 
van with the right wing, in order to maintain the connection 
with Schlick, was overtaken by Damianich at Czegled, and 



220 THE KEVOLIJTION IN HUNGARY. 



driven back to Albert! ; but Scblik could not regain a firm 
footing until lie reached Godollo. 

A second time Jellachich received the command to move 
north toward the main army ; a second time Damianich de- 
feated him at Tapjo-Bickske, and threatened Windischgratz 
on his right flank, while the ban ran the risk of being com- 
pletely cut ofi". Jellachich fought heroically at the head of 
his Croats, amid the thickest shower of balls, but the result 
proved that he did not remain master of the field at Tapjo- 
Bickse, as announced in the thirty-third bulletin of the Aus- 
trian s. 

The prince, meanwhile, (on the 3d,) reached Godollo; he 
brought all his disposable reinforcements with him, and moved 
toward Aszod, as Gorgey made a show of turning aside toAvard 
Iklad. At Aszod a murderous battle was fought, which ended 
in the complete defeat of the Austrians, who retreated toward 
Godollo. Tapjo-Bickse, Isazeg, Godollo, and Aszod formed 
in succession, from south to north, four of the finest imagina- 
ble positions for awaiting the attack of a superior enemy with 
a certainty of victory. The ground of Godollo, intersected 
by a large, wooded chain of hills, offers to an army all those 
invaluable points d'appui which are of greater importance 
than thousands of troops, — heights for the artillery, woods 
for the sharp-shooters, plains for the infantry and cavalry ; 
in short, no strategist could have pictured to himself any 
ground more richly favoured, according to all the rules of 
art and science. Isazeg and Tapjo-Bickse are no less im- 
portant. 

Both parties knew the value of these positions ; the Aus- 
trian generals called out their artillery, their excellent rifle- 
men, and their best cavalry regiments ; the Hungarian com- 
manders summoned the bravest of their Honveds and hussars 
to the field of battle. 

The battle of Tapjo-Bicske, on the 4th of April, lasted 
from six o'clock in the morning until nine at night, and 
ended in the most disorderly flight of the Croats to Pesth. 

The battle of Isaszeg, on the 6th, was the bloodiest of the 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 221 



series. Whole ranks of Honveds were cut down by the Aus- 
trian artillery, but new ones sprang up as if out of the earth, 
and continued to fight. The hussars performed incredible 
acts of valour. Thus only could Isaszeg be won. Aszod 
had fallen, and Godollo, the most dreaded, was now aban- 
doned by the imperialists after an unimportant resistance. 

Kossuth and Gorgey embraced : "Now for the first time 
it is clear what the army is able to perform, — now Hungary 
is saved !" 

Kossuth, followed by many representatives of the army, 
remained for some days in the castle of Count Grassalkowich 
at Godollo, where Windischgratz had repeatedly taken up his 
headquarters, and slept in the very bed which the prince had 
left on the morning of the same day. 

The imperial army was drawn up in a line from Palota to 
Keresztur and Soroksar, — consequently in the immediate 
vicinity of Pesth, with a view to cover that city. The road 
to Waitzen was guarded by the brigades of Gotz and Jablo- 
nowsky. Whatever reproaches may have been directed 
against Prince Windischgratz for his conduct of the war in 
Hungary up to this time, his chief error was, that after his 
retreat from Godollo, he contented himself with encamping 
before Pesth, and concentrating there his whole force, without 
sufiiciently covering the road to Waitzen. This is the most 
unpardonable because the most palpable error, since no ap- 
prehensions were entertained for the safety of Pesth so long 
as the guns remained mounted on the ramparts of Buda ; not 
a single Honved would have set foot in the fauxbourgs of 
Pesth, from a fear lest that beautiful city would immediately 
have been laid in ruins ; the occupation of Pesth without 
Buda could be of no importance to the Hungarian general, 
and it was clear as day that the road from Waitzen and the 
relief of Komorm were the main objects of the whole move- 
ment. 

The Austrian general seemed struck with blindness. Day 
after day the Hungarians- made feigned attacks along the 
extended front of his army, retreating as soon as the Aus- 



222 THE EEVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



trian artillery approached within range of them. For a 
whole week Windischgratz allowed himself to be duped by 
Aulich, who kept an entire army occupied with his insignifi- 
cant division, having watch-fires lighted up at night for miles 
around by the peasants, in order to mislead the enemy as to 
the extent of his encampment. 

At length came the fearful news that Waitzen had been 
taken. Old Gotz had fallen in the engagement before the 
town on the 9th of April : Jablonowsky's brigade, too weak to 
ofier any efi'ectual resistance, was repulsed ; Gorgey was in 
the possession of the left bank of the Danube, and threat- 
end to cross to the right bank by the island of St. Andra, 
(April 11th.) 

Windischgratz now perceived the danger of his position ; 
his headquarters were shifted from the " Swan" in the Kere- 
pess-street to Buda, and Jellachich quitted the hotel of the 
"Two Lions" in the Soroksar-street. The whole army 
marched to the right bank of the Danube ; and had it not 
been for Welden's opportune arrival, and Gorgey's system- 
atic opposition to the plans of the council of war, neglecting 
to occupy the island of Csepel, and pursue the Austrians un- 
intermittingly from Komorn, Welden would never have es- 
caped to Pressburg, nor Jellachich to Esseg. 

But the route along the Danube toward the south was thus 
opened, and Kossuth's definite orders were disregarded by 
Gorgey. The ban led his corps, with all the steamboats that 
were lying before Buda, down the river: not a single shot 
was fired to arrest their flight, and they reached Esseg in 
safety with their ammunition and artillery. On the 17th of 
April, the new commander-in-chief, Baron Welden, arrived 
at Gran, and there made his dispositions. On the same day 
Windischgratz quitted the Hungarian soil. 

The Austrian army has at all events cause to regard Wel- 
den as their saviour, for he extricated it from the fatal posi- 
tion in which Windischgratz had left it, and led it back safely 
to the frontier. His first glance was decisive, — ^his first com- 
mand was a retreat. No alternative was left, and Welden 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 223 



has the merit of having at once taken the necessary course, 
without seeking first, as is too frequently the case with new- 
beginners, to win a little glory on the field of battle. 

The last two battles in the district of the Upper Danube, 
were fought at Szony and Nagy-Sarlo. The former reduced 
the Austrian main army under Welden to that disorganized 
condition, that pitch of demoralization which renders the 
largest armies liable to speedy destruction : the second battle 
annihilated at a blow the army of reserve under Wohlgemuth 
so completely, that its scattered remains did not reunite for 
a long time afterward. Engagements also took place at Pacs, 
and on the river Ipoly ; but Wohlgemuth's defeat was the 
final and decisive blow : Komorn was lost to Welden. 

Komorn is the key of Hungary : this is a phrase continu- 
ally repeated, but perhaps as often misunderstood. An army 
may be in possession of Komorn without being master of 
Hungary, but can never be master of Hungary without Ko- 
morn. It commands the Danube not far from its entrance 
into the country, and has the power of preventing the pas- 
sage of any vessels from Monoster to the Black Sea, thus 
stopping the main artery of the country at its source. The 
old fortress lies in the pointed angle formed by the confluence 
of the two branches of the' Danube, at the extreme eastern 
point of the island of Schutt. 

Maitheny, Torok, Lenkey, Guyon, Klapka, have all in turn 
held the military command in Komorn. These men were 
duly impressed with a feeling of the sacredness of their duty, 
the importance of their position, of friendship for Kossuth, 
and a conviction of the right of their cause. None of them 
held an unlimited command : a council of war had to decide 
on important points, and the commander-in-chief for the time 
being had to yield to the majority. During the first siege, 
this council was composed of Kostolany, Messleny, Torok, 
Gerlond, Jarossy, Counts Paul Esterhazy and Otto Zichy, 
Baron Jessenak, and others. The strength of the garrison 
consisted of eight companies of veterans, fourteen battalions 
of Honveds, seven hundred of the Honved artillery, and six 



224 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



squadrons, partly hussars and partly Csikoses, amounting in 
all to twelve thousand men: the fortress was stocked with 
ammunition and provisions for above a twelvemonth, and was 
defended with two hundred and sixty cannons, all in a ser- 
viceable state, together with as many more dismounted. 

In January, 1849, Simunich undertook an investment of 
the place on the island of Schutt, between the Waag and 
Danube ; but the winter was very severe, and the siege-artil- 
lery not in the best order ; while, on the other hand, the 
garrison were in the highest spirits, and prepared to repulse 
the Austrians wherever they should attempt to set foot. 
Simunich moreover had by no means the force necessary to 
invest Komorn. The operations during the months of Janu- 
ary and February were a mere comedy. Despatches, reports, 
newspapers, passed in and out the gates of the fortress with 
little difficulty ; and even at the end of March and beginning 
of April, when every effort was made to enforce the surren- 
der, there were always plenty of adventurous persons who 
kept up the communication with abroad. 

According to the accounts of the Vienna war ministry, 
they did not "seriously" contemplate a siege until the end 
of March. The weather and the impassable state of the 
roads had hitherto prevented the transport and planting of 
the heavy siege-artillery, which was at length conveyed in 
eight batteries from the Sandberg to beyond the village of 
XJj-Szony. On the 24th of March, forty-two twelve and 
eighteen pounders, mortars and howitzers, were ready to open 
a resolute fire, which had previously been confined to the de- 
struction of the town, already uninhabitable, and the burning 
down of Uj-Szony. 

The Austrians had thus spent no less than three months 
in planting their batteries, with great loss, on the right bank 
of the chief branch of the Danube : their guns commanded 
the town, the old fortress, and part of the Palatinal line. 

During this period the garrison made numerous gallant 
sorties, while many a day was passed by the Austrians in 
cannonading without any glorious result. On the 19th the 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 225 



Demontir-batteries opened their fire ; and on the 20th, at 
eight o'clock in the morning, the bombardment began from 
the Kettle-batteries. Up to the 21st probably about four 
hundred bombshells and grenades had been thrown. On the 
29th Komorn was cannonaded with sixteen-pounders ; and 
the same day a sortie was made by Honveds and hussars on 
the side of Gran, who brought back into the fortress, men, 
cannon, and several hundred kilderkins of wine. 

On the 31st the investment was re-established, or, as the 
ministerial reports express it, "disposed in full earnest." 
For this purpose the bridge previously thrown across the 
Danube at Puszta-Lovad was transported down to Nesmes- 
Oers, in order to establish at that place a shorter communi- 
cation between the two banks ; and at daybreak on the 31st 
the columns were in motion to take up their appointed posts. 

The first division of the Sossay brigade seized and occu- 
pied Puszta-Rava, on the left bank of the Waag, and the 
little wood of Apati, from which however they were soon 
driven by the fire of the fifth Palatinal rampart. The second 
column advanced on the right bank of the Waag as far as 
the destroyed bridge, and under the fire of the fourth and 
fifth Palatinal ramparts. The third column, commanded in 
person by General Sossay, advanced farther than any other 
from Nesmes-Oers on the left bank of the Danube, and can- 
nonaded with the howitzers of their horse-battery the fifth 
rampart, which now opened a fire upon this side also : so that 
the whole line was one continuous fire from ten o'clock in the 
morning till four in the afternoon, in which the field-pieces 
of the besiegers played a very subordinate part. 

Three other columns of the Weigl brigade had advanced 
at the same time toward the t^te-de-pont of the Waag, and 
brought back a few of their dead, with the report of the ad- 
mirable manner in which the enemy's artillery was served, — 
a fact of which those in the right camp of the Danube had 
also become convinced, twelve cannons having from this point 
played upon the fortress and the t§te-de-pont without the 
least ej0fect. 

16 



226 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



The oflScial reports called this fruitless attack, which was 
attended with so great a sacrifice of life, "a trial" of the 
garrison ; and having stood this test so well, the fortress was 
put to successive and more diflficult proofs. In the night of 
the 31st of March, four new twenty-four pounders were 
planted, with the intention of forcing the tete-de-pont of the 
Danube, and throwing red-hot balls upon the fortress. On 
the 1st of April twelve more heavy cannon and two sixty- 
pound mortars were brought up. On the 2d, a further num- 
ber of heavy guns arrived from Vienna, and General Die- 
trich undertook personally the service of the artillery. 

At length, on the 3d of April, a decisive blow was struck ; 
Simunich, by command of Welden, issued an order of the 
day to the blockading corps, which contains the following 
startling announcements : — " There can be no longer any 
thought of a capitulation with miserable traitors;" and, 
" the taking of Komorn is one of the first conditions of the 
new campaign." To this the Hungarians answered by a 
sortie, carrying back with them to the fortress four cannon 
and forty Austrians ; for on their side they maintained that 
one of the first conditions of the new campaign was the cap- 
ture of . the besieging artillery and of the men who served the 
guns. 

All these statements, as here brought together, are taken 
from the oflficial reports of the Austrian war ministry; but 
Hungarian and foreign journals, and private reports of the 
blockading corps, gave even at that time a description of the 
events of the last days of March before Komorn, which for 
the sake of truth must be stated, notwithstanding the doubt 
and obscurity that veil most of the details. 

Welden had undertaken the command of the investing 
troops, and carried off with him all the artillery that had 
been stored up for years in the imperial arsenals. By his 
orders the general attack, described above as a strategical 
"trial," was made on the 31st of March. According to 
other accounts, this attack was simply a demonstration of in- 
sanity, an enterprise of senseless ambition and inhumanity. 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNaARY. 227 



Welden is said to have three several times commanded the 
storming of the fortress; three times in succession columns 
of riflemen, it is said, were ordered to advance against the 
ramparts, not a third part of whom found their way back. 
A fourth time Italian troops were commanded to storm, but 
these refused to march upon certain death, and Welden or- 
dered a body of dragoons to advance upon their rear and 
goad them on to the assault. Austrian troops fired upon one 
another, and attacked each other furiously. Welden re- 
turned to Vienna, his life being no longer secure in his own 
camp. Such was the account very generally related. 

Simunich made a fresh attempt, in the beginning of April, 
to reduce the fortress, by a grand, uninterrupted cannonade. 
He fired red-hot balls from cannon of the heaviest calibre 
and sixty-pound mortars from the Sandberg ; but the fire 
was answered with superior force by the old fortress, the 
t§te-de-pont, and the Palatinal line. Some dilapidated old 
houses in the town were thrown down by the immense con- 
cussion of the air and ground, but the works of the fortress 
suffered trifling injury. These were the severest days of trial 
to the garrison, and afforded the greatest evidence of the 
strength of the fortress. 

Some Austrian officers, prisoners of war in the fortress, 
who were allowed to go at large on parole, once ventured an 
attempt, by a bold cowp de main, to deliver the fortress into 
the hands of the enemy. The plan was discovered in time, 
and they had to expiate this breach of faith in the deepest 
casemates. At another time the besiegers attempted to gain 
by stratagem what they failed to win by force. Half a dozen 
Austrian artillerymen off'ered themselves to execute a peril- 
ous enterprise which one of them had devised. With the 
consent of their commander, they left their company secretly, 
and presenting themselves as deserters at one of the gates of 
the fortress, were admitted. In their pockets they carried 
tools for spiking the c'annon, together with signal-rockets. 
By means of the latter they intended to give information to 
their friends outside when they had succeeded in disabling 



228 ■ THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



the guns, that a general attack might be immediately made 
on this point. The project was bold, but not impracticable, 
and by gaining entrance into the fortress a great part of the 
danger was already past. 

As good Catholics, assured of absolution from their church, 
they took the oath to the Hungarian standard, and were en- 
listed ; but for obvious reasons they showed a repugnance to 
exchange their uniforms for the dress of the Honveds. This 
excited suspicion;' the men's pockets were searched, and their 
significant contents discovered. By threats, the secret was 
drawn from them ; they disclosed it, to save their lives, and 
at the same time they sacrificed the lives of hundreds of their 
brethren. 

The signal-rockets were indeed discharged on one of the 
following nights from the plateau of the north ramparts of 
the Danube. Immediately the Austrian pontooners set to 
work upon a bridge; it was completed, and crowded with 
horses and men, who all pressed forward boldly, on seeing 
the silence which reigned in the fortress. A portion of the 
men had already landed on the opposite bank, and the crowd 
pressed on with increased eagerness, when suddenly a flash 
from the black earth-ramparts broke the darknes of the night 
— there at least the cannon were unspiked — and the shot car- 
ried death into the thickest of the crowd. The first few 
balls shattered the bridge to atoms, annihilating the brave 
fellows upon it. Numbers met their death in the river, many 
from the inaccessible guns of the rampart, while others saved 
their lives under shelter of the night. Those who had al- 
ready landed on the opposite shore were obliged to surrender. 
After this terrible night no further attack upon the fortress 
was attempted by the- Austrians. The discharge of its mor- 
tars alone informed the garrison from time to time that the 
storm was still raging over their heads. 

Nearly four months had elapsed since the garrison in Ko- 
morn, separated from the other divisions of the army, had 
been thrown upon their own resources and the protection of 
the fortress. The latter had proved its strength, and there 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. • 229 



was no scarcity either of ammunition or provisions, notwith- 
standing the accounts given in the official reports of the im- 
perial generals. The health of the garrison had not suffered ; 
but that distemper had begun to manifest itself, common to 
all besieged fortresses — the feeling of isolation, fear, impa- 
tience, longing, doubt respecting the fortune of war in the 
armies of their distant brethren, and the possibility of a 
speedy relief. 

Symptoms of doubt are the forerunners of dangerous dis- 
sension, which in turn leads" to treason and to ruin. While 
on the one hand messengers, at the hazard of their lives, had 
brought the reassuring news from Debreczin, that as yet the 
cause of liberty had suffered no reverses, and every thing 
promised victory, — on the other, the dispiriting tidings from 
Kapolna had likewise found their way across the Danube, 
and the prisoner has no faith in liberty until he has lost sight 
of his jailer. 

Repeated couriers arrived at Debreczin, pressing for mea- 
sures to be taken for the speedy relief of the garrison. 
Kossuth deliberated as to what man he should send into the 
fortress — one upon whose energy he could rely, and who was 
at the same time possessed of sufficient authority and influ- 
ence to infuse spirit into the faint-hearted, to restore confi- 
dence to the doubtful, to control the suspicious. His choice 
fell on Guyon, who readily undertook an enterprise which 
pleased him from its adventurous character. The expedition 
was to remain a secret, in order to prevent its incurring 
failure at the outset. Nevertheless the "Esti-lap" in an un- 
called-for manner dropped a mention of the project, and 
Guyon hastened to Kossuth, complaining to him of the in- 
creased danger brought upon his enterprise by this newspaper 
gossip. Kossuth, who knew from experience the imconquer- 
able passion of a newspaper editor for disclosing all that 
reaches his ear, vented a few ejaculations against his former 
colleagues in a body, and Guyon started the very same even- 
ing for Komorn. The route via Pesth was guarded by the 
Austrians, and he therefore took the road to the south, leav- 



230 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



ing behind him all his equipage, together with his costly 
general's uniform. 

. Guyon travelled in the disguise of a Jew ; and the skill and 
success with which he acted his part are proved by his safe 
arrival at Komorn. The story of his having, with twelve 
hussars, fought his way through the midst of the investing 
corps of the enemy, is a mere fable. People are never at a 
loss when inventing marvellous stories of their favourite he- 
roes, and there was no enterprise of danger and heroism which 
the hussars were not ready to attribute to Guyon. 

Guyon's sudden appearance in the fortress, the fame which 
had preceded him, his resolute character, together with the 
accounts he gave of the enemy's positions, of the general en- 
thusiasm of the country, and the increased strength of the 
Magyar army, of Gorgey, Bem, and Kossuth, restored the 
confidence of the officers in the garrison. He remained at 
Komorn until the siege was raised, and his name is conse- 
quently not found among the generals who shared in the bril- 
liant campaign of April. 

After the battle of Waitzen, the siege of Komorn was vir- 
tually terminated ; an imperial corps still remained behind, 
but chiefly for the purpose of saving the position-cannon, and 
keeping the road to Pressburg open. The first of these tasks 
they were in part able to accomplish. The greater portion 
of the siege-artillery was brought to a place of safety, after 
the heaviest pieces of ordnance had been rendered unfit for 
service; but thousands of hoes and spades, large heaps of 
sacks of earth, an immense number of ladders and implements 
of all descriptions, broken gun-carriages, and fragments of 
baggage wagons, masses of all the various parts of artillery, 
were necessarily left behind. With feelings of joy and sur- 
prise the besieged garrison, after their deliverance, witnessed 
the wrecks of all this colossal apparatus, which had been 
brought together for their destruction. 

On the evening of the 25th of April, the enemy had disap- 
peared from the country for miles around. The northern and 
western sides were open, and the imperial standard floated 



THE REVOLUTION IN HJINGART. 231 



only from the Sandberg, by the side of its fearful intrench- 
ments. Schlik was obliged to occupy this position, until 
Welden with the main army had gained the road to Raab and 
Hochstrass. 

Up to this time all the battles had been fought on the left 
bank of the river. On the 25th, the Hungarian vanguard 
under Knezich, and the corps of Klapka and Damianich, 
crossed the Danube at intervals of half an hour. At two 
o'clock in the morning the storming of the Sandberg com- 
menced. The divisions of Knezich and Dipold forced these 
works the first; at daybreak Klapka took O'Szony at the 
point of the bayonet, and at eight o'clock all the fortifications 
were in the hands of the Hungarians. 

The Austrian troops displayed their accustomed prudence, 
courage, and heroism in opposing the superior forces of the 
enemy, who pressed forward with irresistible enthusiasm. 
Their steady discipline and remarkable skill in manoeuvring, 
which rank them with the first soldiers in the world, might 
have prolonged the resistance; but the Hungarians were 
joined by the garrison of the fortress, whom Guyon led out 
by the tSte-de-pont into the open field. The Austrians could 
not hope to receive succour from the main army under Wel- 
den, Avhich had collected again in Raab in the most pitiable 
condition ; while Gorgey with all his forces was free to cross 
the Danube if he pleased, and cut off the retreat of Schlik. 
The latter therefore retired with his troops to Raab, and there 
joined the main army, after having suffered some slight loss. 

There were great rejoicings in Komorn among the garrison 
and their liberators : the fortress had still suflicient stores of 
food and wine to welcome a second army, which moreover 
brought in its train thousands of wagon-loads of all kinds of 
provisions. The exultation of the army was unbounded: all 
the gates of the fortress stood wide open on their half-rusty 
hinges as in a time of profound peace. The relief of Komorn 
was the most important achievement of the campaign, and 
the greatest victory of the Magyar army. 

At two different periods of the war the metropolis of Hun- 



232 THE Ri^VOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 

gary had heard at a distance the discharge of artillery. But 
the city had not hitherto been the scene of any conflict, and 
the only blood had been shed by the hand of an assassin, in 
the murder of Count Lamberg, on the Bridge of Boats, by an 
infuriated mob, September 28th, 1848. The imperialists, 
under Windischgratz, took possession of the metropolis with- 
out resistance. 

While Buda itself is commanded on three sides, it commands 
the Danube and Pesth, and in this consists the importance of 
its position. It was on the forenoon of the 21st of April, — 
Austrian bulletins of battles won at Gran and Komorn were 
placarded on the walls, to amuse the good people of Pesth and 
quiet their apprehensions, — when the vanguard of the Hun- 
garian army appeared on the Bombenplatz at Buda. Loud 
eljens arose from the citizens along the quay, which were an- 
swered by a cannon-shot from the fortress. 

The Hungarians had reckoned on meeting with only a weak 
resistance, if any; they, therefore, upon the arrival of their 
first columns, advanced straight to the assault against the 
palisades on the chain-bridge, setting fire to them in different 
parts. Presently the Honveds were seen on the farther side 
climbing the hill in small detachments, — but only to meet 
their death from the musketry of the Austrians. Buda was 
not prepared to yield so easily the fame she had acquired of 
old in the days of the Turkish war. 

The Honveds were repulsed with great loss. Those col- 
lected on the lower declivity of the hill were decimated by the 
fire kept up from the houses, especially from the monastery 
of the Misericordians. The inhabitants of Pesth were eye- 
witnesses of the slaughter, as the dead bodies of their sons 
and brothers rolled down the hill-side ; but" Gorgey must have 
seen clearly that a serious tragedy was in preparation in the 
amphitheatre of mountains around Buda, of which he was anx- 
ious to be the hero. "I will show the world that I too can 
reduce fortresses!" said he to Damianich and Aulich; and 
these words contained all the motives that induced him, in 
opposition to the orders of Kossuth, to encamp before Buda 



THE KEVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. - 233 



■with thirty thousand men, instead of pursuing Welden up to 
the gates of Vienna. A single order of the day, subscribed 
"Arthur Gorgey, from headquarters at Schonbrunn," would 
have been of infinitely greater importance to the future pros- 
pects of Hungary and Austria, nay, of the whole world, than 
the reduction of ten such strongholds as Buda. 

Gorgey knew this perfectly well, but the plan to advance 
across the frontier had been formed by Dembinski, and ap- 
proved by Kossuth ; and this was a sufficient reason for Gor- 
gey to oppose its execution. The siege of Buda was the first 
step in the fall of Hungary ; it saved the Emperor of Austria 
the remains of his army and his crowns. 

A brisk fire was now opened upon Buda and the city suf- 
fered severely. Gorgey then withdrew his troops and pre- 
pared for a regular investment and bombardment. All the 
hills around were occupied, and the Hungarians, though ex- 
posed to the Austrian fire, made great progress in their 
works. 

Meanwhile the regular breach-batteries arose slowly and 
fearfully upon the Calvarienberg and Spitzberg. When 
these cannon opened their fire, the ground literally shook for 
miles around ; for now that the object was to effect a breach, 
whole batteries were discharged simultaneously, in order that 
the concussion of the walls might aid the efiect of the pro- 
jectiles. The Vienna gate fell in ruins, together with the 
vaulting ; and with this the rampart, and with the rampart 
the vaults, and the neighbouring houses. So likewise, the 
whole line of the Weissenburg gate was levelled by the bat- 
teries of the Spitzberg. The whole space behind these two 
gates was one immense yawning breach. At this point the 
fatal stroke was aimed, — here, along the whole extent of the 
fortifications, the storming took place. 

Gorgey left this service to volunteers : the Don Miguel 
battalion, and the seventh and forty-ninth Honved battalions 
were the first that offered themselves for the task, (May 
20th.) These troops were also the first upon the ramparts. 
Henzi died like a hero. Colonel Auer perished in an unsuc- 



234 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



cessful act of vandalism: he had to hold the post on the 
aqueduct and chain-bridge, and in order to die with ^clat when 
all was lost, he flung his cigar into a powder-barrel which 
communicated with the mine beneath the bridge. The traces 
of the explosion were to be seen six months afterward on the 
lower rafters of the bridge. The body of the colonel was 
found burnt to a cinder. 

The exultation of the citizens of Pesth was unbounded, 
when they saw the tricolour flag hoisted upon the castle of 
Buda. On the entrance of the first hussars, (a part of Au- 
lich's corps,) mothers, delicate women, and high-born ladies 
pressed forward to kiss the accoutrements of the heroes ; 
children embraced the horses knees, men wept, and old men 
exulted with all the spirits of youth : the tricolour was a 
token of peace to the unhappy city. For weeks the poor in- 
habitants had been living crowded together in the little wood 
close by, and at New Pesth, and had distinctly seen their 
dwellings burning to the ground. 

With the storming of Buda and the relief of Komorn 
terminated the first campaign against the Austrians. A long 
cessation of hostilities ensued, during which the Russian 
armies approached the Hungarian frontier. 

In the meantime, the great Kossuth, the very life of the 
revolution, had been invested with dictatorial powers. His 
exertions in camp and council were astounding ; every depart- 
ment felt his vivifying touch. In the beginning of April, 
1849, Kossuth quitted the advancing force of the Hungarians 
and returned to Debreczin. In his absence, Paul Nyary, 
Gabriel Kazinczi, Louis Koracs, with a few other fearful 
patriots, had been intriguing to efi'ect a reconciliation with 
Austria. Kossuth resolved to prevent all retreat, by burn- 
ing the ships of the frightened behind their backs ; or, in 
other words, by publishing a Declaration of Independence. 

On the 14th of April, the representatives of the Hunga- 
rian people assembled in the Protestant church, for the pur- 
pose of entering the ranks of independent nations, after the 
example set by the Americans. Eye-witnesses of that assem- 



THE BEVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 235 



bly assure us that the scene in the plain, unadorned house 
of prayer, was the grandest one in the whole course of the 
Hungarian revolution. Never was Kossuth's eloquence more 
electrifying than when dictating the letter of renunciation 
of allegiance to the Hapsburg dynasty; his glowing patriot- 
ism vied with his impassioned eloquence. The farewell curse 
thundered from his lips like a cataract; and as the people 
beheld the history of their centuries of suffering, the decep- 
tions practised on them, and their unrequited and thankless 
sacrifices unrolled before them, and held up to their view 
like so many warning spirits, their hearts' blood stirred with 
feverish excitement, they trembled with irrepressible emo- 
tion. The thrill of present joy, the intoxicating presenti- 
ment of future freedom, could alone adequately recompense 
the sufferings, the bootless struggles of ages, or efface the re- 
membrance of past griefs. 

A thundering shout of exultation broke from that immense 
assembly, and swelling in its course like an avalanche, it was 
caught up by the multitude who thronged the streets without, 
and was echoed far and wide through the country around. 
The National Assembly had made a call upon the people for 
fresh heroism, for new self-denial and self-devotion; and the 
people, in their joyous enthusiasm, vowed to respond to the 
summons. The petty intriguers had not the courage to open 
their lips ; the Vergniauds of Debreczin were mute. 

The new president governor, had, immediately after the 
declaration of independence, to proceed to the formation of 
a new ministry. Szemere undertook the presidency, together 
with the portfolio of the interior. He belonged to the 
better known, and more influential class of politicians in 
Hungary : but he wanted the power of organization on a 
grand scale, and was deficient in those comprehensive views, 
that deep insight, which mark the statesman. In the former 
ministry under Batthyanyi, he one while inclined to the pre- 
sident, at another to Kossuth ; at the same time he had fre- 
quent intercourse with the Archduke Stephen, and acted since 
the month of September as a member of the committee of 



236 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



national defence, in which sphere he worked with untiring 
zeal and activity. In April, 1849, the new president of the 
ministry avowed himself an advocate for a republic, and 
openly announced to the house of representatives his 
government as democratic and republican. This change in 
the ministerial programme was necessarily calculated to pre- 
judice the government in the eyes of the nation, since it was 
not in unison with the Declaration of Independence itself. 
It is difficult to judge of the motives which led Szemere to 
this premature avowal, for he might have been a very good 
republican, and yet have adhered to the provisional form of 
government declared by the diet. It seems that a personal 
mistrust of Kossuth, even at that time, with respect to the 
foreign relations of the country, induced him to this unfortu- 
nate policy. Kossuth erred in neglecting to come to an 
understanding with his ministers as to their views, before 
presenting the ministerial list to the house ; but Kossuth was 
deceived in Szemere, as he was in Gorgey. The president 
of the ministry had never been a friend of the governor ; in- 
deed, people were so convinced of his hostility to Kossuth in 
Debreczin, that some even talked of a secret understanding 
between Szemere and Gorgey. 

The semi-republican declaration on the Theiss alarmed the 
French statesmen on the Seine, and the Tories in England 
had on their side an easy game to play with Palmerston. 
Teleki in Paris, and Pulszky in London, endeavoured to cor- 
rect this evil, by declaring that they both adhered solely to 
the act of independence ; but in so doing they found them- 
selves in the no less fatal position of being obliged to disavow 
the policy of their own government. These envoys, as the 
English and French journals of that time clearly show, en- 
deavoured to represent that the form of government for 
Hungary was to be considered an open question, and that 
this country could meanwhile be as little designated a repub- 
lic as a monarchy. But with the overpowering conservative 
elements in England and France, which readily seized on a 
pretext for remaining neutral with a good grace, the position 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 287 



of the Hungarian envoys was by these measures needlessly 
embarrassed. 

The act of independence might have been the cradle of 
Hungary's freedom : it was wrecked, on the false policy of 
the ministry, on the overthrow of Kossuth, and on Gorgey's 
treachery. 

Two full months elapsed between the great battles on the 
Theiss and Danube, — the result of which was the retreat of 
the Austrian main army, — to the moment when the united 
Russians and Austrians opened the second decisive campaign. 
In May the siege and storming of Buda took place ; June was 
wasted by Gorgey in purposeless battles on the Waag and Da- 
nube. In vain Kossuth adhered to the plan of Dembinski and 
Vetter, according to which the victorious Magyar army was 
to divide into two great halves, — one to invade Austria or 
Styria, and the other Galicia, with a view to transfer the 
field of battle and the revolution beyond the frontiers of 
Hungary. In vain was Gorgey urged to lead forward his 
army resolutely, in order to gain a decisive step before the 
Russians invaded the country ; all orders and entreaties were 
thrown away on the obstinacy of this general, who, while 
professing his readiness to obey, never executed the com- 
mands that issued from Debreczin. 

On the 2d of May, General Legedics announced by beat 
of drum in Cracow, that the Russians were on their march, 
to enter the Austrian territory as allies. The weakness of 
Austria was proclaimed with a certain pomp. The drum- 
mers were ordered to beat the deathmarch, as at the last 
moments of a criminal led out to execution. The Austrian 
government had pronounced its own sentence. 

On the 4th of May, seventeen thousand Russians crossed 
the frontier via Cracow ; on the following day twenty-two 
thousand, with eleven thousand four hundred and fifty horses. 
On the 8th, fifteen thousand crossed the frontier to Tarno- 
grod, and twenty-six thousand to Brody, with nine thousand 
eight hundred horses. On the 9th, seventeen thousand men 
entered Wolosezys, and on the 11th followed nine thousand 



238 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



by way of Hussyatyn. At the same time the Russian 
columns from the Bukowina and Wallachia were set in mo- 
tion in the direction of Transylvania. In all, Paskiewitez 
advanced at the head of one hundred and six thousand men, 
with twenty-three thousand cavalry. Under him commanded 
the generals-in-chief Rudiger and Tscheodajeff. At the 
same time, (May 5th), the young Emperor Francis Joseph 
went for the first time to Vienna, and formally assumed the 
command-in-chief of the army. 

On the 12th of May, the emperor issued a manifesto to 
the Hungarians, announcing the Russian intervention, and 
again summoning them to an unconditional surrender. In 
answer to this, the Hungarians advanced the same day to 
Sommerin, after scattering to the winds an Austrian brigade. 
But Gorgey on this occasion played with human life for the 
mere sake of sport; on the following day he recalled his 
troops from Sommerin. The whole of the Large Schutt 
island, the left bank of the Waag, and the right bank of the 
Danube, up to Raab and Hochstrass, were in his power, — 
in his rear not a single soldier of the enemy, before him a 
defeated arm.y, which had great difficulty in collecting again 
and recruiting its ranks. Thus stood Gorgey, we might say, 
before the castle of Pressburg, before the gates of Vienna, 
and wasted in criminal wantonness his most favourable and 
precious time, and the finest forces of his country. 

On the 30th of May, Baron Haynau was invested with 
unlimited powers. He came still hot from the slaughter at 
Brescia — heralded by the worst reputation of his age. At 
the storming at Brescia he observed a priest, who from a 
barricade had fired several shots at him. "The fellow will 
not hit me," said he; "I shall not fall by the hand of the 
enemy, but by assassination." He now came from the land 
where murder is naturalized, to a country of open, honour- 
able warfare ; here he had no cause of apprehension from 
the assassin's blow, and he has shown his ability to make the 
most of his power after his own fashion. 

Hardly had he received the command, hardly had he time 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 230 



to muster his forces, to reconnoitre the ground upon which 
he was to begin the war in earnest, hardlj had he issued a 
single order of the day, when already two sentences of death 
had received his signature. Baron Mednianski died on the 
gallows, and with him Gruber, on the 5th of June at Press- 
burg. The former as commandant, and the latter as artillery- 
man, had taken an active part in the ^defence of Leopold- 
stadt. A cry of horror rang through the whole empire, a 
wild cry of revenge echoed through Hungary, when people 
saw the manner in which Haynau passed sentence on his 
prisoners of war ; and hardly had the pale look of horror 
disappeared from men's countenances, when the sentence of 
death was passed and executed (June 18th) on the priest 
Razga. In vain had the citizens of Pressburg supplicated 
mercy for this universally honoured man : he was doomed to 
the gallows ; and ever since that time the hangman has had 
full employment wherever Haynau's courts-martial have been 
held. But with all his bloody sentences Haynau could only 
create martyrs, — to intimidate, to terrify, to disarm, to con- 
vince, he was unable. 

The battles between the opposed armies continued with 
brief intermission. The Hungarian generals carried on the 
war upon a small scale with alternate success, but attended 
with a great sacrifice of life, and the clear stream of the 
Waag was too often reddened with the blood of the slain. 

In the middle of this cold mountain-stream arise here and 
there hot springs, coming and disappearing according to Secret 
laws of nature ; from out the blood-red water a white column 
of steam arose, curled on the surface, and passed away. 
This was frequently to be seen in the month of June at 
Ujhely, Pischtyan, and Szered. 

At the last town the Austrians attempted, after repeated 
and fruitless attacks, to effect a passage. Their scouts met 
with no enemy on the farther bank ; it seemed as if the latter, 
alarmed at the approach of the Russians, had abandoned the 
defence of the Waag, and retreated in the direction of Ko- 
morn. A battalion of infantry, two companies of riflemen, 



240 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



and a foot-battery crossed the river on one of the hastily- 
constructed pontoon-bridges. But the left bank of the Waag 
proved fatal ground to the imperial generals, — it was this 
time the grave of a battalion. Hardly had they reached 
Sempte, when the Hungarians charged Impetuously out of the 
forest, which borders the chain of the Carpathians. The 
last corps of the Austrians succeeded In regaining the bridge, 
and reaching the other side ; but the greater portion of the 
troops, together with their cannon and standard, were lost. 
Even those who afterward escaped to the river could not get 
over, for the first body of fugitives, thinking only of their 
own safety, had destroyed the bridge behind them. The 
Waag is deep and rapid, and most of the soldiers trusted 
themselves rather to the mercy of the Hungarians than of 
the river-god. 

Of all the engagements which were fought at this time at 
diflFerent points, and in which both parties suifered considera- 
ble loss, the battle on the Rabnitz, near Csorna, caused by 
the rashness of an Austrian staff-officer, was the most im- 
portant. Colonel Zesner, of the imperial regiment of Uhlans, 
had been appointed to command the Wyss brigade, which was 
to join the first division under Schlik. On the 13th of May, 
Wyss had orders to advance upon Csorna, to cover the right 
flank .of Schlik's army, who was moving toward Raab. The 
evening before. Colonel Zesner wished to reconnoitre the ene- 
my's positions, and for this purpose hired a peasant's cart, 
pointing out to the driver the road he was to take. The Ma- 
gyar peasant knew the country well, and must have been 
aware that the Hungarian outposts were advanced far in this 
direction; nevertheless it did not enter his head to call the 
colonel's attention to this circumstance, nay he even exceeded 
the request of the latter, and conducted him not only within 
the Hungarian line, but into its very centre. Zesner suddenly 
found himself in the village, surrounded by peasants and hus- 
sars. Resistance was evidently vain, nevertheless he used his 
jpallasch for some time against the peasantry with success. 
An old captain of hussars, who probably felt interested in the 



242 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



brave officer, likewise laid about him with a stick, and forced 
his way through the crowd to the cart, against which the 
colonel stood leaning to defend himself. The hussar called 
on him to surrender, — a sabre-stroke was the reply. Colonel 
Zesner was now a lost man — he fell, bleeding from a hundred 
wounds. In his pocket was found the order of the day for 
the morrow, and thus the plan of the advance was betrayed. 

At daybreak on the 13th, a strong Hungarian column de- 
bouched across the Rabnitz at Marczalto, and attacked the 
brigade on the right flank. Its force had been unwarrantably 
weakened, the passages of the Rabnitz had been insufficiently 
manned, and in addition to all this was Zesner's disaster with 
the order of the day, These circumstances combined, led to 
the defeat of the Wyss brigade, — the severest blow which the 
Austrians had experienced for some time. 

Four battalions of infantry, two companies of riflemen, three 
divisions of Uhlans, and three batteries, constituted the force 
of this brigade. But distributed as it was, (the outposts were 
already on the Lake of Konyi,) its single divisions were un- 
able to resist a concentrated attack. The peasants of Csorna 
and the surrounding villages, who were prepared for the blow, 
did their part : more than a third of the brigade was lost. 
The Uhlans fought with superhuman bravery, to cover the re- 
treat as efi"ectually as possibly : General Wyss himself held 
out in their ranks, until he fell from his horse, severely wound- 
ed, into the hands of the pursuing enemy. 

But, as was invariably the case in such discomfitures of the 
Austrians, the fault of this occurrence was laid to the charge 
of Hungarian spies-. The chaplain and schoolmaster of the 
village of Siplan were arrested under suspicion, and conducted 
to (Edenburg. And yet this time at least the whole treason 
was found sticking in the pocket of the unlucky colonel, and 
in the false dispositions of the commander of the brigade. 

A week later, these disasters of the Austrians were fear- 
fully paid back, and the petty warfare gave place to greater 
battles. But to form a correct conception of the following 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 243 



events, and a fair estimate of Kossuth and Gorgej, a few pre- 
liminary remarks are necessary. 

The reader will recollect that Gorgey encamped before Buda 
with thirty thousand men, in direct opposition to the command 
of the government. After this error had been committed, 
which Gorgey endeavoured to palliate by a courteous excuse, 
Kossuth could only insist that Buda should be taken as 
speedily as possible ; for to raise the siege of this quasi-iort- 
ress would have produced too mischievous an impression on 
the army and throughout the country. Meanwhile Kossuth 
was meditating to remove Gorgey from the command. He 
valued him as a brave general, but considered him a better 
tactitian than strategist, seeing that a series of such brilliant 
victories had been turned to no better account. Repressing 
any suspicion of intentional treachery, as often as it arose in 
his mind, he offered Gorgey the portfolio of the war ministry, 
and appointed Damianich to the chief command of the army 
of the Danube. 

Gorgey accepted the offer, and spoke of Kossuth's choice 
as the best possible. Nevertheless he did not leave the army, 
but wrote word that he must first take Buda. Meanwhile he 
endeavoured to remove from his side those generals who ad- 
hered to Kossuth as the highest expression of power, and at 
length even prevailed on Damianich to go in his stead to De- 
breczin and join the ministry. Damianich started, but met 
with a fall from his carriage and broke his leg. 

Kossuth was greatly alarmed by Gorgey's disobedience, no 
less than by the accident that had befallen Damianich. He 
now saw no possibility of finding a worthy successor to Gor- 
gey. Dembinski and Vetter were both out of the question : 
Bem had enough to occupy him in Transylvania, and Damia- 
nich, the only man who could be measured with Gorgey, was 
hors de combat, — Damianich, whom Kossuth prized above all 
others, whom he trusted the most. And rightly too ; it was 
Damianich, to whom, after Gorgey, belonged the glory of all 
the battles from Hatvan to Komorn. 

In consequence of the unfortunate accident to Damianich, 



244 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



Gorgey retained the command. He made Kossuth the pro- 
posal to transfer it to Bern, well knowing that Kossuth would 
not consent to such a step ; and thus he remained minister of 
war and commander-in-chief of the finest division of the ar- 
my. To fulfil the duties of the first office he went frequently 
to Buda, meanwhile intrusting his corps to the chief of his 
staff. This officer, named Bayer, was his favourite ; he com- 
manded the movements on the Waag, behind the line of ope- 
ration, and was the cause of the losses which the Hungarians 
sustained in that quarter, — losses which Gorgey "always re- 
paired in a brilliant manner on his return from Buda. No 
wonder that his soldiers worshipped him, or that he appeared 
to them a being of a higher order, coming to the relief of his 
sub-officers, whom he everywhere exposed from motives of 
remorseless vanity. Gorgey henceforth paid not the slightest 
regard to the general plan of operations which had been 
agreed upon at Debreczin. According to this plan, he was 
to have moved with fifty thousand of the choicest troops to 
the right bank of the Danube. The road was open to him. 
With Komorn as a 'point d'appui, he was to have given battle 
to the Austrians, if Haynau accepted it. If victorious, he 
was to have marched direct upon Vienna; but if Haynau 
avoided a battle, he was then to have driven him over the 
frontier. In case the Hungarians were defeated, they would 
have had in Komorn support enough to venture a second bat- 
tle, aided by reinforcements from the Upper Theiss and the 
Banat. The war against the Russians would only then have 
begun ; and if successful, the Hungarian generals would have 
been enabled to transfer the scene of war to Galicia of Aus- 
tria.* But in the worst event — as had been agreed — 50,000 

* According to Kossuth's statement, tlie numbef and distribution of the 
Magyar forces were at that time as follows : — ■ 

Gorgey's corps (after all losses) 45,000 men. 

In the Banat 30,000 

In Transylvania , 40,000 

On the Upper Theiss (county of Saros) 12,000 

In the Marmoros 6,000 

In Peterwardein 8,000 

141,000 men. 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 245 



to 60,000 men would still have remained together, to force 
the road by Fiume into the territory of Trieste and come to 
the aid of the Italians, — a turn of affairs which might have 
been of the greatest importance to the whole of Europe, 
especially when it is reflected that a large portion of Radet- 
sky's army consisted of Hungarian regiments. Austria, alone, 
would not have been able to withstand this shock, and the 
advance of Russian troops so far into the west would have set 
Europe in flames. 

Gorgey's conduct since the battle of Szony can only be 
designated as the insubordination of stubbornness and self- 
will, amounting, in fact, to treachery. No court-martial in 
the world could put a milder construction upon his actions. 
He allowed Welden quietly to depart, Jellachich to escape ; 
he allowed the Russians time to invade the country. What 
shadow of a reason can be alleged for such conduct in a 
military point of view? And yet, after all, there was still 
time to resume the original plan of operations, and to attack 
the Austrians on the right bank of the Danube. Again he 
promised this, in a dispatch to the government, and again he 
broke his word. Instead of adhering to the concerted plan, 
he led his troops across the Waag, and was beaten. 

This was the battle at Pered and Szigard, the first in 
which the Russian troops of the Paniutin division took part 
— the battle which compensated the Austrians for their de- 
feats at Szered and Csorna — the first battle in which Gorgey's 
troops fled. 

With thirty thousand men and one hundred and eighty 
cannon, he crossed the Waag, which had hitherto been the 
line of separation between the two armies. Here he was 
opposed to Wohlgemuth, whose inferior forces were obliged to 
yield before the impetuous attacks of the Hungarians. This 
brave general retreated fighting from one position to another, 
with astonishing regularity; but his troops were harassed 
with fatigue, his cannon were silenced by Gorgey's superior 
artillery, his cavalry could no longer stand their ground 
against the hussars, his columns of infantry began to fall 



246 I'HE REYOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



into disorder, and lie would have been doomed to a second 
day of misfortune like that of Sarlo, had not the Russian 
Paniutin division appeared at the right moment on the field 
of battle. Its columns advanced in the midst of the heaviest 
fire, like walls, set in motion by an invisible power, and 
every gap in their front ranks was instantly filled up. Vain 
was the bravery of the Honveds, the self-devotion of the 
hussars ; they stood here for the first time opposed to Rus- 
sian troops, arriving fresh from the camp to the field of 
battle. Wohlgemuth, meanwhile, gained time to lead his 
troops again into action, who took courage when they saw 
their allies stand their ground. Gorgey's army was threat- 
ened in flank, and his troops began to be harassed; the 
tables were turned — he was now the weaker, and his left 
wing fell into disorder. He was obliged to retreat to Negyed, 
which he effected with great loss of men and cannon. The 
burning of the bridges hindered the enemy's immediate pur- 
suit, but Gorgey was compelled to retreat to Gutta with his 
flying army, to recover his lost ground on a better opportu- 
nity. This never presented itself. 

In the south, the tricolour waved far and wide — in the 
Banat, on the Theiss, on the windings of the Danube, as far 
as Orcsova. Szenta had already fallen in March, and the 
Serbs cried "treason," and threw all the blame of their dis- 
aster upon Herdi, a stafi"-officer. On the 30th of March, 
Nugent was likewise obliged to evacuate Zombor, and the 
Bacska was entirely freed from the Austrians. On the 2d 
of April, Perczel took the dreaded fortress of St. Thomas ; 
Captain Bosniez was unable to save this venerable monument 
of Serbian bravery, which was converted into a heap of ruins. 
Peterwardien stood firm as the rock on which it is built ; four 
battalions guarded this key of the Danube, to prevent its 
falling into the hands of the enemy. Temeswar was invested 
by Vecsey, Arad by Vetter and Gaal, with a view to prevent 
any oifensive operations from those quarters. In the middle 
of April, Perczel advanced victoriously with the Tschaikist 
battalion; he found Csurug, Zabalj, Gjurgjevo deserted by 



THE REVOLUTION IN" HUNGARY. 247 



all their inhabitants, and left behind him in burning ruins 
Kacnadaly, Kach, St. Ivan, Gardinova, Upper and Lower 
Kovily. On the 10th of April, he entered Panchova, and 
the South-Sclavish journals unite to extol the moderation 
and humanity of this impetuous man, who never had faith in 
a victory unless his enemy was laid in the grave. 

Meanwhile, the ban was endeavouring to push forward to 
the north and west, without succeeding for any length of 
time, although he was able to regain a footing between the 
Danube and the Theiss, and to invest Peterwardein ; in the 
course of the campaign, however, we shall see him again in 
retreat to Ruma and Mitrovicz. Theodorovich had been 
driven beyond Panchova, and Knicanin remained fixed in 
the strong positions on the Theiss. Stratimirovich — one of 
the youngest and most able commanders of the Serbs, but 
the most fickle, ambitious, and faithless of all the hundred 
thousand armed men fighting on the Hungarian soil — occu- 
pied the Roman intrenchments with his troops. 

The din of war had ceased in Transylvania, since the Rus- 
sians and Austrians had been driven beyond the passes and 
out of the country. The fields were all under cultivation, 
and shone in the brightest green ; the passes were barricaded 
under the personal direction of Bern, who indefatigably 
sought to take advantage of this pause in the campaign to 
assist the Magyar generals on the Theiss and Maros, in the 
cabinet and the field. 

The positions of the two armies at the beginning of the 
campaign were as follow. Proceeding from east to west, we 
find the remains of Puchner's corps under Clam-Gallas in 
Wallachia, joined by the wreck of the Croatian army under 
Jellachich on the Drave and Lower Danube. These again 
were connected with Haynau's right wing by the Pettau 
camp, and with his main army by Oedenburg and Brud. His 
left wing was closed by the Russian Paniutin division, which 
was connected with the Russian main army by detached Aus- 
trian corps, while the former completed the outer circle in 
the Bukowina and the principalities. Opposed to these masses 



248 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



of troops stood Bern in Transylvania, — Vecksej, Yetter, and 
Perczel in the south, — Dembinski and Visocky in the northern 
country, — Gorgey on the Waag and Danube. 

About the middle of June the general advance of the im- 
perial armies was commenced. Luders opened the dance. 
On the 13th his vanguard set out from Bukarest in the direc- 
tion of the Tomos Pass ; on the 16th he himself followed, 
and on the 19th he drove the Hungarians from their strong 
position on the Bredial ; on the 20th he stormed Kereten in 
the valley of Tomos, which was held by Colonel Kiss with 
heroic courage until he fell mortally wounded into the hands 
of the enemy : on the 21st, Luders entered Cronstadt. At 
the same time General Engelhardt had penetrated through 
the Torzburg Pass ; while the third Russian column under 
General Freitag, notwithstanding a great sacrifice of life, 
could not succeed in holding the Ojtos Pass. 

Starting from Cronstadt, Luders and Hasford attempted 
the conquest of the Szeklers ; but this w^ild. Centaur-like 
people drove the enemy out of their valleys, and forced the 
two generals back to Cronstadt. Meanwhile Grotjenhelm 
had entered the country from the north, stormed in succes- 
sion Marosheny, Borgo-Prund, Illovanika, Bistriz, (25th,) 
and was preparing to penetrate farther, when Bern hastened 
to the scene of action, drove the Russians out of Bistriz on 
the 26th, and on the 2d of July back to the Borgo Pass. 
His presence inflamed the Szeklers to a struggle of despair ; 
under their chief, Gal-Sandor, they pressed forward to Pras- 
mar ; Generals Adlerberg and Jesaulow, who had been sent 
against them by Luders, were again compelled to retreat to 
Cronstadt. Luders, feeling himself too weak to advance 
farther into the country, waited in his strong position until 
Clam-Gallas could join him. On the 12th, Bem operated 
against Nagy-Sajo, and passed this place, but on the other 
side encountered the superior forces of the Russians ; he was 
obliged to return, and again to abandon Bistriz. As he was 
driving out of the town, a shot was fired from an ambush — 
probably intended for the Polish General. He was unhurt, 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 249 

but his aide-de-camp Lukenics, Yt^ho was sitting by bis side in 
the carriage, fell mortally -wounded. Once more Bem witb 
bis wonted rapidity collected all tbe variously disposed Szek- 
ler corps, witbout tbe enemy's being able to prevent bim ; 
nor did be for an instant lose tbe bope of retaining possession 
of a country wbicb bad become endeared to bim as tbe battle- 
field of bis fame, bis genius, bis bate. 

Tbe ban bad for two montbs played a similar part in tbe 
soutb to tbat wbich Hammerstein and Vogl bad previously 
played in tbe nortb. He marcbed continually upward, wbile 
be read in tbe newspapers of bis imaginary beroic deeds 
against Peterwardein, Szegedin, and Tberesiopol, witbout 
baving advanced a single step. At O'Becse, indeed, be at- 
tacked Perczel's rear on tbe 26tb of June, witb double tbe 
force of tbe Hungarians ; tbe battle, wbicb commenced botly, 
promised to be a decisive one, but Jellacbicb on tbe same 
evening retired toward St. Thomas and Foldvar. Together 
witb bis self-confidence be bad lost all resolution of action. 
Equally undecisive was tbe battle which tbe Magyars fought 
at Titel, against Knicanin ; they were unable to force the 
passage of tbe river : in vain tbe Serbs sacrificed their lives 
before Aerlass, — the Theiss remained the basis of operation 
to both armies. 

Peterwardein was meanwhile invested on one side ; and 
although this colossal fortress had as little to fear from storm 
as from bombardment, yet its relief was necessarily, for 
strategical reasons, tbe main object of tbe Hungarian gene- 
rals in the south. The Austrians under Lieutenant-fieldmar- 
sbal Berger had evacuated Arad, the grayheaded commander 
and tbe brave garrison baving been dismissed with honour- 
able conditions. The investing corps was thus able to join 
tbe Hungarian army of tbe soutb, wbich it considerably re- 
inforced. Its commanders bad for a twelvemonth past an op- 
portunity of learning something ; Bem had himself drawn 
out tbe best plans of operation, Perczel had been rendered 
circumspect by experience, and Guyon commanded under 



250 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



Vetter — Guy on, the bravest of the brave, who was himself a 
host. 

Guyon was at Hegyes, in the county of Bacs, when Jel- 
lachich formed the plan of annihilating him by a great noc- 
turnal surprise. Jellachich is no man of calculation : this 
was evident at the commencement of the war, when he 
marched into Hungary with the firm conviction that all the 
Magyar imperial regiments would go over to him ; he has 
also proved this as a politician, no less than on the field of 
battle, where he was frequently beaten at the very moment 
when he thought himself sure of victory. So likewise at this 
time. Informed by spies of the position of the Magyars, he 
set out on the 14th of July, with the intention of surprising 
them in the darkness of the night ; but the arrow recoiled 
upon the marksman. Guyon, having received timely infor- 
mation that the ban, whom he usually called "the perjured 
jack-pudding," contemplated to honour him with a visit, made 
his arrangements quietly, though hastily, to receive the unin- 
vited guest in a becoming manner. 

At midnight Jellachich set out from Verbasz, and advanced 
at daybreak, with full expectation of success, into the defile 
of Hegyes, without having even despatched a side-detach- 
ment toward Feketehegy or Szeghegy. He was already 
fixed in the trap, when the first cannon-shot thundered on the 
flank of his troops. This was Guyon's morning salutation, 
which found an echo on all sides. The shades of night were 
still struggling with the morning mists, when it became clear 
to the Austrians that every step in advance was one nearer 
to eternity. Now began the disastrous retreat through the 
cross-fire of the Hungarian batteries. The flight lasted with- 
out intermission to the Francis Canal, to Verbasz, to Ruma; 
nay, even here the ban did not feel secure, and removed his 
headquarters to Mitrovicz. 

He there mustered his troops; not a third remained of 
those whom he had led over the canal in that night of horror : 
the rest had fallen, been taken prisoners, or were scattered 
to the winds. To the undaunted valour of the Ottinger 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 251 



cavalry, which protected his retreat as well as they were able, 
at the sacrifice of their own lives, the Ban of Croatia alone 
owed the remains of his boasted army of the south. He at- 
tributed the failure of his enterprise to the "knavery of a 
traitor;" a successful surprise he would have doubtless called 
"the heroic act of a patriot." But for Jellachich to talk of 
knavery when opposed to a Guyon ! why, the character of 
the ban, under its best aspects, can never be placed in com- 
parison with the habitually honourable spirit of Guyon, which 
is the more admirable from its disinterested character. 

The consequences of the victory were most important. 
The Backsa was freed from the enemy, the Francis Canal, 
his most important line of operation, was lost, the army of 
the south decimated, its remains driven into a corner, scat- 
tered and demoralized ; the fortress of Peterwardein on the 
contrary was relieved, and supplied anew with provisions, 
ammunition, and men. 

Thus the opening of the second campaign could not be 
called unfortunate for the Hungarians either in Transylvania 
or the Banat ; in the former country nothing was lost — in 
the latter, all was won ; at both points a pause in the war 
ensued, during which the two imperial invading armies in the 
north and west, according to the concerted plans of the two 
cabinets, pushed on their operations with energy. 

On the 18th of June, the Russian main army, under the 
command of Prince Paskiewitsch, crossed the natural boun- 
dary between Hungary and Galicia. The third corps of in- 
fantry, under Rudiger, had advanced its vanguard to Hethars, 
and was the first that encountered the Hungarians. But the 
adverse forces were too unequal for any serious battle, and 
the Hungarians retired to their head-quarters at Eperies. 
Rudiger marched against that town on the 23d ; the second 
infantry corps, under Lieutenant-general Kuprianoff, ad- 
vanced in the same direction ; while the fourth, under General 
Tscheodajeff, remained at Bartfeld. On this demonstration, 
which was intended for the left wing of Dembinski's army, 
the latter retired in the night of the 22d to Kaschau, aban- 



252 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



doning Eperies without sti'iking a blow to Tscheodajeff, who 
took possession of the town on the following day. 

On the 25th, the newly concentrated Russian army set out 
for Kaschau, and, contrary to their expectation, found this 
place likewise deserted. It was evident that Dembinski 
wished to draw the Russian generals on to a precipitate pur- 
suit, but the difficulty of provisioning the army from Galicia 
rendered it impossible for the Prince of Warsaw to advance 
rapidly. He allowed his troops a day's rest on the 25th, and 
(28th) divided his army into tAvo columns at Kaschau. One 
of these divisions, under Rudiger and KuprianofF, took the 
direction to the south, and on the 30th reached Miskolez; 
while Dembinski, still retreating, marched to Gyonyos, and 
Lieutenant-general Sass with the rear of the main army oc- 
cupied Eperes, from whence he was ordered to reinforce 
Rudiger's corps. The other corps, under Tscheodajeff, took 
the road by Tallya to Tokay ; and on the same spot where 
Schlik had been beaten by Klapka, a small number of hus- 
sars and Honveds stood their ground to try the fortune of 
battle against the invaders. They were driven back to Tokay 
without much trouble, where they joined a strong Hungarian 
corps, intended to- cover the passage of the Theiss at its 
junction with the Bodrog ; but a few hundred Cossacks swam 
through the river above and below the point of passage, and 
put the Hungarians to flight, who had but just time partially 
to destroy the bridge. This occurred on the 30th of June at 
noon, and the same evening the Russian outposts occupied 
the left bank of the Theiss, having thus crossed the line of 
separation which the Magyars had hitherto succeeded in 
maintaining against their Austrian foes. 

Tscheodajeff encountered no enemy on his road to Debrec- 
zin, where he arrived on the 3d of July, 'and quartered his 
soldiers in the houses, whose melancholy aspect exhibited no 
appearance of their having so long been the residence of 
Kossuth and the great Hungarian nobles. Tscheodajeff 's 
corps remained here until want, and probably likewise the 
vicinity of ten thousand Hungarians encamped at Puspoki, 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 253 



obliged them to retreat. The Russian general was in such 
want of provisions for his troops, that he could not even 
carry oflF the arms taken from the citizens of Debreczin, and 
was obliged to destroy them. The motives of this isolated, 
purposeless expedition may partly be found in the vanity of 
the Russian fieldmarshal, who wished to be the first to march 
into Debreczin, — a point which the Austrians had as yet 
failed to reach, — partly in his erroneous belief that the cap- 
ture of this town would destroy the courage of the Hunga- 
rians. The Russian general had forgotten the history of 
Moscow and his own country ^ nor did he know that Debrec- 
zin without Kossuth was worth to the Magyars no more than 
any other town in the kingdom. 

We have hitherto observed three Russian divisions in their 
combined and isolated manoeuvres in the north ; farther to 
the west we meet the fourth, under the imperial General 
Grabbe. 

This general was to have covered Cracow, but he after- 
ward received orders to advance from Jordanow, and on the 
19th he took up his head-quarters in Also-Kilbin. His des- 
tination was to press forward from the counties of Liptau 
and Arva across the Waag, in the direction of the mining 
districts, in order thence to efi'ect a junction with the Aus- 
trian main army, and direct his march toward Pesth, Ko- 
morn, or Trentschin, according to circumstances. Crossing 
the Waag at Miklos, he reached Rosenberg; but the whole 
country swarmed with guerilla-bands, which prevented his 
obtaining provisions, seized on his ammunition-wagons, en- 
dangered his operations, "and annoyed him in every way ; 
while Benitski, with a portion of the Polish legion, was strong 
enough to hinder a forced advance. Under these circum- 
stances Grabbe could only retreat to Kubin, where he was 
nearer to his resources ; and here he remained closely beset, 
in a state of inactivity, until Benitski, more punctually obey- 
ing the orders of the council of war than Gorgey, followed 
the Hungarian main corps in the direction of the Theiss. 
Grabbe now for the first time succeeded in occupying Krem- 



254 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



nitz on the 8th of July, and Schemnitz on the 10th, still 
later, by means of his vanguard under Major-general Betan- 
court, he effected a junction with the Austrian General Cso- 
rich by Kis-Tapolesan. 

Thus the net of the enemy was drawn continually closer 
and closer. The Hungarians, as had been determined in the 
council of war, retreated from the north into the interior of 
the country, in order to form a junction with Gorgey's corps 
at a given point ; for it was easy to foresee that Gorgey would 
be pressed from the west, whence Austria, together with her 
own collected forces, likewise led the Russian Paniutin divi- 
sion to the scene of action. 

On the 27th of June, a few days after the battle of Pered 
and Czigard, Haynau assumed the offensive, and directed his 
army in three columns concentrically upon Raab. The right 
wing under Wohlgemuth, with the Benedek brigade as van- 
guard, was ordered to advance from Enese, to threaten the 
left flank of the Hungarians ; the centre under Schlik was 
to follow the high road from Pressburg to Raab, and the left 
wing to pass through the Little Schutt by way of Dunas. 
The Russian Paniutin division and the Bochtold cavalry re- 
mained in reserve at Lebeny and Sovenyhaza. 

Francis Joseph commanded the Paniutin division to defile 
before him, and led the first corps d'armee in person toward 
Hochstrass. Gorgey, threatened in his left flank by Wohlge- 
muth, withdrew his troops after an unimportant resistance 
across the Alda-bridge. Here Schlik joined Wohlgemuth, 
while the third Austrian corps advancing from Papa had 
already crossed the Raab at Marczalto, and threatened Raab 
itself on the left flank. Gorgey could not possibly hold the 
town against such superior numbers, and he had therefore 
withdrawn in the night of the 27th with his 'main force toward 
Acs, leaving behind only a rearguard of eight thousand men 
in the intrenchments of Raab, to cover his retreat. These 
likewise abandoned their position after a fruitless resistance, 
and followed the main corps. The young emperor entered 
the city as a conqueror at the head of his troops. 



THE KEVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 255 



Soon after the taking of Raab, Haynau removed his head- 
quarters to Babolna ; Gorgey's troops were encamped at Acs, 
opposite to Komorn. Here he remained, protected by the 
newly-erected ramparts, which may be considered as the com- 
pletion of the fortress on the left, to check the masses of 
troops which Haynau was leading on the Buda road toward 
the metropolis. Under him in command were Poltenberg, 
Knezich, Nagy Sandor, Bayer, and Leiningen. Klapka had 
assumed the command of the garrison in the fortress. 

The Austrian lieutenant-fieldmarshal showed, at the very 
commencement of the operations, that he was on his guard 
against falling into the errors of his predecessor. All his 
manoiuvres from Pressburg to Temesvar were evidently di- 
rected to the object of ending the war by great and rapid 
strokes. He was moreover unwilling to leave much for the 
Russians to do, as was proved by the haste with which he 
advanced toward Buda, Szegedin, and Arad, — a haste which, 
in spite of the fortunate issue, cannot be strategically justi- 
fied, since it endangered all ; whereas, by a less hurried ad- 
vance, and more in concert with the Russian operations, little 
or no risk would have been encountered. But Haynau ap- 
pears to be a man of extremes, in the field as in the cabinet; 
he wanted to press Gorgey to open the road to Buda, and for 
this purpose he resolved to make a general attack on the in- 
trenchments. 

Haynau's centre was posted at Nagy-Igmand, his left wing 
in the direction of the Acs, his right at Kisber. On the 1st 
of July he ordered the reserve corps under Wohlgemuth to 
advance from Igmand toward Puszta Chem, followed by the 
Paniutin division. The attack commenced on the 2d from 
these positions. The Benedek infantry brigade, the Bechtold 
cavalry division, and the Simbschen horse brigade, stormed 
toward O'Szony, and were repeatedly driven back. Benedek 
vindicated his ancient claim to the epithet of the brave, and 
himself headed his troops. Without firing a shot, they pressed 
forward at the point of the bayonet over their dead and wound- 
ed comrades; but the heavy artillery of the Hungarians 



*256 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



mowed down their ranks, and forced them to turn, followed 
by the hussars to Mocsa, and leaving behind them many dead. 
The Hungarians lost a field-battery, which, having advanced 
too far, had been taken by the Lichtenstein light-horse, after 
a sanguinary struggle. 

Meanwhile Schlik led his troops to the scene of conflict, 
and the Reischach brigade received orders to take Uj-Szony. 
In the vineyards surrounding this village far and wide, they 
fell in with some light armed Honved battalions, which suc- 
cessfully attacked them. Now began a conflict on the nar- 
row paths and among the vines, which at this season had put 
forth their first leaves. A hand-to-hand fight was waged, 
with ball or bayonet, and often decided by the mere strength 
of arm and activity of limb. At length the Honveds quitted 
the ground, and withdrew toward the village into their in- 
trenchments : but the Austrians on the first assault took the 
foremost line of fortification, and with a general hurrah 
planted the black-yellow standard in the earth, without the 
cannon of the second line, which completely commanded the 
first, opening their fire. Not until the rampart was covered 
with white uniforms, did they commence their regular cross- 
fire, the murderous effect of which forced the Austrians to 
abandon the advantage they had just won. Both sides 
allowed themselves a momentary rest, — they had both earn- 
ed it. 

Gorgey on this day wore, contrary to his usual custom, the 
splendid red and gold-embroidered general's uniform, and 
his white heron's feather was seen at every point where any 
thing was to be disposed, ordered, or executed. The hand- 
some, manly, but hard features of this remarkable man never 
wore the full expression of his soul until facing an enemy in 
battle : that was the moment when his fate exhibited the ex- 
citement, enthusiasm, thirst of fight, and passion of his 
nature. Whoever has seen Gorgey in battle will never for- 
get him : no wonder that his troops worshipped him as a god. 
Gorgey saw the best forces of the imperial army wasting 
away before his Honved artillery ; and it rejoiced the soul of 



258 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



this proud man to confront the first nobility of Austria as an 
enemy of equal rank — ^he, a man but lately without position, 
name, property, or ancestry, although gifted by nature with 
a consciousness of his own power, and nevertheless neglected, 
passed over in favour of young puppies of rich and noble 
families. He now saw them again, these proud cavaliers of 
Austria, marching at the head of their companies, battalions, 
and brigades — he saw them fight, bleed, fall. 

Gorgey was perhaps, on the 2d of July, undetermined in 
his own mind as to his position and future course of action. 
Whether it was the result of cool calculation, or that the 
heat of battle carried him away, we know not, but, after re- 
peatedly repulsed attacks of the Austrians, he assumed the 
offensive, and attempted to break through the enemy's masses. 
With this view he ordered his bravest divisions of cavalry into 
the field ; at Uj-Szony the battle raged fiercely, and extended 
far and wide ; Puszta-Herkaly, originally occupied by the 
Austrians, was repeatedly won and lost, and the Reischach 
and Parma brigades were decimated. At Acs twelve thou- 
sand Hungarians attempted to outflank the left wing of the 
Austrians ; both sides fought with desperation, the one to 
force a passage, the other to prevent it. The endeavour to 
outflank the left wing was frustrated by the Bianchi brigade, 
who were masked by a wood ; but the centre was in the 
utmost danger, when suddenly Paniutin, the saviour at all 
moments of need, advanced with his Russians from Puszta- 
Csem, The Hungarians, too exhausted to recommence the 
battle against this new enemy, withdrew into their intrenched 
positions. Haynau himself, in a bulletin, acknowledged "the 
timely appearance" of the Russians. The victory remained 
undecided, but the Austrians suffered far greater losses than 
their enemy. Haynau had become convinced by experience 
that Gorgey's positions were unassailable, while the latter per- 
ceived that Haynau's masses of troops were too compact to 
be broken. The most fearful thing in the great tragedies of 
war is, that the experiments of the generals are often attended 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 259 



with greater sacrifice of life than their most brilliant suc- 
cesses. 

The battle of the 2d of July was claimed by the com- 
manders of both armies as a victory. They were both right 
and both wrong. Each had failed in the attack — each had 
made a brilliant defence. But the Hungarian government 
must have learned to perceive, that such victories are nothing 
else than brilliant preludes to an inglorious end. The origi- 
nal plan of operations adoped by the general council of war had 
been frustrated by Gorgey's obstinate self-will, especially 
after his announcing laconically to the government that he 
was no longer able to cover their position, and advised them 
to remove to some other town. The terror created by this 
message spread through Pesth with the rapidity of lightning. 
Csanyi, Vukowich, and Szemere remained longest in the me- 
tropolis; Kossuth preceded them to Czegled, to adopt the 
utmost possible means of defence. 

The diet had already been dissolved : the pressure of the 
times allowed not of fine speeches. This Debreczin parlia- 
ment moreover did not respond to the greatness of its task : 
it aimed at effecting important reforms, yet shrunk back from 
a great crisis, waiting to have this forced upon it, instead of 
anticipating its approach. The diet comprised eloquent 
speakers and true patriots, but no heroes in thought, most 
of these men following implicitly the dictates of the governor. 
A parliament may be induced to pass resolutions by the 
force of eloquence and argument, but it ought also to have 
the courage to carry those resolutions into effect. 

But the government at length resolved upon a decisive 
step, and appointed Meszaros, seconded by Dembinski, com- 
mander-in-chief of the Hungarian armies, at the same time 
directing Gorgey to obey his orders. Gorgey received this 
announcement on the 2d, just as he returned heated, ex- 
hausted, and wounded from battle. It might almost be ima- 
gined that he had this day sought death: the words he is 
said to have addressed to his Honveds seem to imply this : 
"Forward, my children! the ball to-day hits me alone!" 



260 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 




Aulich, 



and his splendid general's uniform, visible from afar, ap- 
peared intentionally worn to serve as a target to the enemy's 
balls. 

Fate, however, spared him; the wound in his head was 
trifling, but the mandate of the government rankled in his 
heart. Only three days before he had given assurance to 
the Minister Csanyi, Generals Kiss and Aulich, who were 
sent by Kossuth to his camp, that he would carry out the 
plan of the council of war, obey the instructions of the 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 261 



government, and lead liis troops to the Theiss ; nevertheless, 
on the evening of the 2d of July all these promises were for- 
gotten. He announced briefly to the government that he 
would no longer subject his brave troops to their decrees, but 
would employ them in accordance with his own views, and 
fight, uncontrolled by any commands, for the independence 
of his country. At the same time he remained quietly in his 
intrenchments, notwithstanding the daily arrival of couriers, 
announcing the advance of the Russians by the mining dis- 
tricts. He knew that every hour of delay on his part was 
one of despair to Kossuth, and he wished to show that the 
cause of Hungary rested no longer upon Kossuth's lips, but 
on the point of Gorgey's sword. Lamentable vanity, which 
devoted Gorgey himself, Kossuth, and all his country to de- 
struction ! 

Gorgey again endeavoured to force a passage through 
Haynau's ranks ; it seemed the last act of despair — the only 
alternative to his being compelled to lay down his arms on 
the open field, wedged in between the Austrian army of the 
Danube and the advancing Russians. 

It was on the 10th of July at noon — storm and rain 6b- 
scui'ed the horizon, mist from the river and marshes lay 
spread out upon the lowlands which were intersected by un- 
dulating chains of hills — when the Himgarians debouched 
from their intrenchment in great force, and simultaneously 
advanced to the attack on difierent points. 

Gorgey exhibited on the 10th, as before on the 2d, the 
masterly skill of a great general and the self-devotion of a 
brave soldier at the head of his troops. In the woods at Acs 
the Honveds fought in close masses, and satmrated the ground 
with their blood. The imperial generals themselves were 
struck with admiration at the national infantry, so much de- 
cried, who pressed forward with lowered bayonets, their 
muskets still loaded. They fought with all the ardour of young 
soldiers, and the cool self-possession of grayheaded heroes; 
but they found an iron foe in the Bianchi, Sartori, Reischach 
brigades, and the Ludwig cavalry brigade. The loss was. 



262 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



great on both sides, and night saw each army in its former 
position. 

The Hungarians had not better success on the other points 
of attack. The hussars were repulsed before Mocsa by the 
Bechtold division of cavalry. At Puszta-Herkaly, indeed, 
Gorgey for a long time had the advantage; the enemy's 
columns were overthrown; the Austrian infantry began to 
stagger and fall back in confusion ; the fortune of the day 
was on the point of being decided, and the valour of a Bene- 
dek and Herzinger (these two generals had both their horses 
killed under them) would hardly have been able to save the 
battle to the imperialists, when once more Paniutin, Gorgey's 
evil spirit, appeared, with his living walls of troops and his 
powerful park of artillery. At five o'clock the battle was 
terminated on all points. The hussars rode downcast into 
their quarters; but Gorgey exhibited a cheerful face; he 
trusted to his brave troops and his own genius to find another 
outlet. 

Gorgey's object now was to break through the Russian army 
on the east, having failed in this attempt upon the Austrians in 
the south. He ordered Klapka, with all the forces which were 
destined under his command to form the garrison of Komorn, 
to make a general attack upon the Austrian main army. 
Klapka executed his mission with that bravery and circum- 
spection which have distinguished this general from first to 
last. Sparing of human life, but the more lavish of powder 
and shot, he conducted his attack so skilfully, employed his 
comparatively weak force with such prudence and manage- 
ment, he divided his artillery and the few squadrons of 
cavalry that remained to him in so masterly a manner, that 
the headquarters at Dotis were seriously threatened, and 
the Austrian generals led to believe that 'they were opposed 
by Gorgey's entire army, who intended to venture a decisive 
battle for a third time. 

Gorgey, meanwhile, unperceived, marched along the left 
bank of the Danube on the road to Waitzen, to meet the 
Russians. He encountered their first outposts at Parkany; 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 263 



they retreated hastily to Waitzen, which was occupied by a 
Mussulman regiment under Prince Bebutow. The latter 
begged and received immediate succour from General Sass, 
at Hort and Hatvan, and on the 15th commenced a hot en- 
gagement, fought principally with artillery and cavalry. 
Nagy Sandor's corps had formed a junction with Gorgey, 
who, after the losses he had sustained on the Waag and 
Danube, had still under his command an army of 45,000 of 
the choicest troops, together with a park of artillery of 
seventy to eighty guns. At Waitzen, Gorgey for the first 
time encountered unmixed Russian troops, and his admirably- 
served artillery kept possession of the field. The following 
day the Russians renewed the battle, having received strong 
reinforcements; Ramberg had hastened to their aid from 
Pesth. 

The heights of Waitzen now became the theatre of a mur- 
derous conflict. The fight raged into the streets of the 
town, and the walls of the houses were battered by the gre- 
nade and cartridge-fire of the Russians ; but in the midst of 
this iron hail the Hungarians retreated slowly, as if intend- 
ing to hold Waitzen to the last man. 

Nagy Sandor with 12,000 men now made a stand against 
an overwhelming force, as long as he deemed it of any 
avail ; he then followed the main army, the enemy not daring 
to pursue him. The latter did not discover until afterward 
that they had merely been engaged with the rearguard ; and 
the Russian general openly acknowledged this in his bulletin, 
thereby testifying to the bravery of the Hungarians as it de- 
served. "General Perczel," said Kossuth, "was during the 
battle of Waitzen only a few miles distant with 26,000 men 
at Nagy Kata, but Gorgey neither wrote nor sent. He had 
merely to have said one word, and we should have taken the 
Russians between two fires and annihilated them — but he 
was silent." 

Thus had Gorgey himself broken the first mesh of the 
great imperial net which surrounded him ; he now lost him- 
self in his well-known mountain paths, and for a long time 



264 THE EEVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



no one knew where he was wandering. We will leave him to 
develop at leisure his skilful manoeuvres, and tiirn our atten- 
tion to other points. 

In Transylvania, all the horrors of war raged in the val- 
leys, on the mountains, in the wild ravines, at the gates of 
the most flourishing towns. After the mountain passes had 
once been opened, the united forces of the enemy poured in- 
cessantly, like a flood, through the broken-down sluices, 
threatening to overwhelm the defenders of the country from 
all sides. Bem's battles had been fought in vain, and even 
his conciliatory conduct, by Avhich he hoped for a time to 
efiace the hatred and jealousy of the difi"erent races, was 
thrown away. The presence of the imperial armies, their 
manifestos and promises, and on the other side the strait- 
ened position of the Polish generals, had the efi"ect of arous- 
ing old hostilities, old recollections, claims, and hopes among 
the wild Wallachs, who in that country are called Motzen. 
The hordes of these mountaineers were stirred, and thousands 
crept from their hiding-places like reptiles awakened to new 
life by the sun's rays. Bem saw the numbers of his enemies 
increase fearfully on every spot of ground he had to defend. 
A disproportionately small army was under his command, 
and although the Szeklers were ever ready for the fight, yet 
many of his ofiicers longed for rest, and the pay of the troops 
began moreover to fail, since on the flight of the government 
from Pesth the banknote-press had been stopped. 

On the 15th of July, Clam-Gallas had led Puchner's former 
corps from its quarters in Wallachia to Transylvania, (the 
Turkish government had not ventured, according to interna- 
tional right, to disarm this corps on their territory,) his main 
object being, in conjunction with the Russians, to relieve 
Carlsburg, which was hard pressed. But Bem still felt him- 
self strong enough to enter the field against the united impe- 
rial generals. He collected his Szekler troops at Harom- 
szek, defeated the Austrians who had ventured to advance so 
far, and threatened Cronstadt and Hermannstadt at the same 
time. The Russian generals, who had gained lessons of ex- 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 265 



perience from their first unsuccessful campaign, remembering 
that they had once possessed the two capitals only to lose 
them again, would not sacrifice their honour and that of the 
Russian arms a second time ; they prudently withdrew before 
Bern's army, carrying away their military chest and stores 
in the utmost haste from Cronstadt, after being compelled by 
two successive defeats to retreat to Illyefalva and Aldoboly. 
Bem took advantage of this weakness of the enemy to advance 
into Moldavia by the Ojitos Pass, (23d.) He hoped by his 
presence to put in motion all the revolutionary elements 
which had accumulated for years past in the principalities ; 
and as Transylvania was half lost, he sought to gain in Mol- 
davia a field for new battles. In this he deceived himself. 
His rapid advance to Roman failed, equally with his procla- 
mations, to raise the people of Moldavia, and he consequently 
had no alternative but to retreat hastily into Transylvania. 
Here, as early as the 26th, General Hasford, after taking 
the chief town in the Saxon-land, had driven back the Szeklers 
to Reismark. Bistriz had also again fallen, the Szeklers 
having fled like cowards before Grotjenhelm. 

Luders had advanced to Schassburg, and Bem, who ap- 
peared before this town on the 31st, could hold it no longer. 
He quickly marched to Mediasch, with a view to unite with 
Kemeny Farkas, who brought him four thousand men and 
twelve cannon from Klausenburg : strengthened by this rein- 
forcement, he was anxious to make a bold coup-de-main upon 
Hermannstadt, in order if possible to drive Hasford back 
into Wallachia. His attack on Hasford's column leaves no 
doubt as, to this intention; he repulsed him impetuously from 
the Salzburg and Reismark side toward Hermannstadt, which 
the Russians were obliged to evacuate, and were pursued to 
Talmasch. Hasford's corps would not have long been able 
to withstand the impetuosity of the Szeklers, the Rothen- 
thurm Pass would have again seen the Russians flying from 
the country, Bem would have occupied Hermannstadt, and 
have had one enemy less to contend with, had not Luders, 
who saw through the plan of the enemy, operated on his flank 



266 



THE REVOLUTION IN HtJNGAET. 









Bern. 



•with a view to relieve Hasford, Bern, compelled to maintain 
a front against this second enemy, attacked the latter in his 
excellent position on the heights of Grosscheuern ; but the 
Russians made a stand, and their cavalry rendered it impos- 
sible for Bem to outflank their left wing, while the right was 
suflGiciently protected by the hilly nature of the ground. The 
Polish general vainly exerted all his skill in manoeuvring ; 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 267 



vain was the daring valour of his cavalry, who defied all ob- 
stacles of a hostile soil and the enemy's batteries ; vain was 
the self-devotion of isolated detachments of Hohveds, who, 
at the risk of being cut off, stole forward through the thickets 
on the acclivities, to harass the Russians on all sides. Bern 
was that night indebted to the clumsiness of his enemy alone 
for being able to lead his troops toward the Maros, which he 
crossed — never to retui'n. We too shall now take leave of 
the mountains of the south, cast a rapid glance over the 
plains and marshes between the Maros and the Theiss, which 
at that time lodged no enemy, and direct our view to the 
valleys of the north, where we left the Russian main army. 

The Russians were still encamped on the 5th of July be- 
fore Miskolez ; Dembinski had withdrawn to Gyongyos ; the 
Prince of Warsaw had removed his headquarters to Abrama 
on the 9th, and we do not find him in Aszod until twelve 
days later. Dembinkski and Paskiewitsch — the Pole and the 
Russian, the general of the autocrat and the patriot of a 
world, the two old foes grown gray in battle — here stood 
watching one another with that circumspection which testi- 
fied their mutual respect. The Prince of Warsaw could only 
advance slowly, being obliged above all things to keep chan- 
nels open for the supply of provisions. Dembinski, on the 
other hand, must have welcomed every hour of delay, as 
favouring the possibility of a final concentration of all the 
Magyar forces. He remained inactive, but ready for instant 
battle when Gorgey should appear from the east, to place 
the Russian main army between two fires. 

Gorgey did not make his appearance ; Visocky and Des- 
sewffy were therefore obliged to remain on the Theiss, instead 
of reinforcing the army of the south, as had been determined 
in the last great council of war. It was to be feared that 
the Russian main army would take the route to the south, in 
order to unite with the ban ; Vetter would have been too 
weak to face both enemies, the Bacska would have been lost, 
and with it the last hope of a great concentration between 
the Theiss and Danube. Dembinski, in consideration of 



"268 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



these circumstances, was obliged to relinquisli his Fabius-like 
system ; and being informed by spies that his enemy was 
preparing for a great battle on the 28d, he resolved at once 
to anticipate his movements. 

The Dessewffy and Visocky brigades had two days before 
threatened the right flank of the Russians, and repulsed a 
division of Uhlans, intended to cover it, upon the vanguard 
Tolstoi ; but afterward, when Tolstoi developed his superior 
strength, they discontinued the fight, still retaining a posi- 
tion in immediate connection with Dembinski, to afford a 
powerful support to all his manoeuvres. On the 23d of July, 
at two o'clock in the morning, three hours before Paskiewitsch 
had determined to break up his quarters at Hatvan, Dembin- 
ski's centre stood before this place, (Paskiewitch, deceived 
by spies, believed him to be retreating toward Erlau,) and 
took it by storm on the first assault. The Russian soldiers 
had the previous night received a great allowance of spirits, 
and slept more soundly than usual ; their columns formed 
but slowly, so that, according to Dembinski's report, many 
of them ran off, or were taken prisoners in their shirts. 
Paskiewitsch himself now brought up the reserves from Aszod, 
but was driven back at the point of the bayonet by the Hun- 
yady regiment ; and before he could attempt a second at- 
tack, the appearance of Colonel Bottner from Pata obliged 
him to retreat. The centre and left wing of the Russians 
were thus pressed together, and the right wing was also forced 
to abandon its position at Jasz Bereny, and retire to Sorok- 
car. The' Russian general now united all his disposable 
forces, and drew them out of their confined position. ' At 
nine o'clock in the morning, the battle was at its height, at 
ten it was decided; the Hungarian cavalry and the Polish 
lancers turned the scale. The Russians lost all their bag- 
gage, twelve cannon, and eight hundred prisoners. Under 
different circumstances, this victory would have been impor- 
•tant ; but Hungary could now only be saved by a war of 
annihilation ; there was no longer any question of winning or 
losing positions, but of the existence or non-existence of 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 269 



armies. The possibility of success was, at all events, opened 
to the Hungarians ; but Gorgey had only one object in view, 
that of overthrowing Kossuth : and to effect this, he sought 
to lower him in power, step by step, in order that, at the de- 
cisive moment, when Kossuth should confess his weakness, 
he might place himself at the head of affairs, as the only man 
capable of holding the helm. 

We meet him again after the battle of Waitzen, on his 
route northward. At Retsag, on the small lake formerly 
known by the name of " Ocellum Maris," an insignificant 
Russian corps made a stand against him; he was content to 
avoid it. At Vadkert he again fell in with the Russian 
troops, but here also, like a lion, he despised inferior prey, 
continued his march toward Balassa-Gyarmath, and took up 
his headquarters, on the 19th, in Ludany. He now stood 
on the river Ipoly, which, rising a few miles to the north in 
the Oztrosky Mountains, rushes with impetuous force through 
the valley ; here, on the Raros Pass, extending between the 
river and the wooded mountains, he had thought to gain a 
firm footing, but it was too late. Grabbe, who had preceded, 
drove him still further northward to Losoncz. Sass followed 
in his footsteps, and came up with his rearguard at Losoncz, 
after the main corps had already marched out on the road to 
Gyongyos. Nagy Sandor, who commanded the rearguard 
since the battle of Waitzen, withstood the shock bravely, and 
after a hot engagement, which spread into the streets of the 
town, was able to follow the main corps, united with which, 
he, on the 25th, occupied the strong positions before Gomor. 

But the farther Gorgey proceeded eastward and nearer to 
the Theiss, the more narrowed became the circle of the Rus- 
sians, who were pursuing and awaiting him. Saas, who hung 
upon his heels, daily concentrating the scattered columns, 
was now in direct communication with Grabbe, and the two 
generals combined their manoeuvres for a great chase in the 
mountains, while Tschoedajeff in Miskolcz was waiting like a 
sportsman at his post, until the noble prey was driven within 
shot. 



270 THE KEVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



That Gorgey on his way to Gomor did not once attempt to 
annihilate the inferior forces of Sass, and relieve himself of 
this disagreeable escort, is one of the most enigmatical points 
in his tactics. It is said that he kept up negotiations during 
the march with Dembinski. On arriving at Gomor he was 
too weak to fight, and thenceforth nothing remained but to 
avoid a defeat. For this purpose he ordered Nagy Sandor 
to hold the positions before Gomor as long as possible, and 
then to turn aside toward Rosenau, draw the enemy after 
him, and keep the road to Putnok open to the main corps. 
Nagy Sandor obeyed these orders, fought with his Honveds 
before Gomor, engaged before Rosenau an enemy three times 
his superior in number, who continually imagined that Gorgey 
was before them, and at length with his battalions hunted to 
death, starving and decimated, reached the main army at 
Miskolcz. 

If what this brave general declared to Kossuth is true, 
that here, as everywhere, Gorgey, out of mere hatred, pur- 
posely exposed him to danger, he had an opportunity at 
Miskolcz of taking a noble revenge. On his arrival before 
this town he found Gorgey engaged with Tscheodajeff. Al- 
ready from afar the thunder of the heavy artillery fell on his 
ear, and with a last effort of his exhausted troops he pressed 
forward to the field of battle. Miskolcz was speedily eva- 
cuated by the Russians ; Gorgey was enabled to take up the 
noblest positions from Onod to Zsolcza, to destroy the Sajo 
bridge, and protected by the stream, wood, and marsh, to un- 
dertake the defence of this line. Nagy Sandor and Polten- 
berg performed here prodigies of valour on the 25fh, at 
the head of their Honveds ; while Gorgey conducted the en- 
gagement with the whole power of his genius. The battle 
lasted from morning till late at night;' Gorgey's superior 
tactics, and his keen perception in taking advantage of the 
natural features of the ground, saved him and his army from 
utter annihilation; and neither his officers nor the Russian 
generals that evening doubted, that he would at once force 
the passage of the Theiss at Tiszafured. Tscheodajeff im- 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 271 



mediately made preparations to follow him ; Grabbe had al- 
ready marched from Losoncz, (which he had plundered and 
burnt down to revenge the murder of several Russian officers,) 
by the shortest route toward Tokay; but Gorgey, contrary 
to all the expectations both of friend and foe, crossed the 
Sajo and the Hernad, and gave his troops a day's rest at 
Gesztely. In this position Grabbe attacked him, and was 
driven back to Onod, (28th.) Another Russian column, 
ordered at the same time to advance toward Tokay, was like- 
wise arrested in its march at the Hernad. The headquarters 
of the Russians were removed to Tiszafured, and Gorgey at 
length crossed the Theiss. 

In following these movements, as here described, we cannot 
but admire the genius of the man who planned and executed 
them. His marches and counter-marches, north, south, and 
east, winding his way through by-roads in the mountains — 
his power of seizing at once upon favourable points, and the 
skill with which he took advantage of the mountain-streams, 
will immortalize Gorgey's retreat as one of the most masterly 
in the whole annals of warfare. 

Dembinski and Meszaros, after having in vain waited for 
a junction with the army of the Danube, according to the 
general plan of operations, had retired slowly to Szegedin, 
and the corps of Visocky and Perczel alone remained at 
Czegled. Perczel still expected Gorgey's arrival, and this 
hope made him stay till the last moment. 

Haynau had directed his march to Pesth, which he again 
left on finding that Gorgey had escaped him, and went in 
pursuit of his enemy into the heart of the country. Perczel 
and Visocky retired without delay by Kecskemet to Szegedin. 

Kossuth arrived at Szegedin on the 12th of July, 1849, 
the other members of the government either accompanying 
or following him. We have lost sight of Kossuth in the pre- 
ceding narrative of the most important events of the war. 
While the generals were the foremost actors on the scene, 
the power which created and organized the whole movement 
necessarily remained veiled in the background. 



272 THE EEVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



Kossuth at once displayed the powers of the agitator and 
the organizer. He drew up the plan of a crusade for the 
whole country, calling the nation to arms in a proclamation 
which for sublimity and power of style will remain as a 
model to future ages. He traversed the country, and by the 
most eloquent speeches awakened the greatest enthusiasm 
among the people. Cut off from Debreczin by the Russians, 
Kossuth and the government retired to Szegedin. The Diet 
met on the 21st of July. Affairs wore a gloomy front, but 
the government was not dispirited. Secret conferences were 
held to discuss the great question, how the hostile Sclavish 
and Wallachian races might be won over to the Magyar 
cause. The result was the transference of the " command- 
in-chief to Gorgey, (with the proviso that he should render 
at a future time an account of his conduct,) a declaration of 
the equal rights of all nationalities, and an amnesty to all 
who had borne arms against Hungary. (Sitting of the 28th.) 

The appointment of Gorgey to the command-in-chief of 
all the* armies was hailed with exultation by the people, who 
had the greatest confidence in his genius, and regarded him 
as invincible. Perczel alone openly opposed his nomination, 
and claimed for himself the post which was proposed for 
Gorgey. His violent temper carried him away, and betrayed 
him into the most intemperate threats and unjustifiable ex- 
pressions; but in the end he yielded to the order of the 
minister of war, who even took from him the command of his 
corps, which he had in part himself raised, and transferred 
it to Visocky. Kossuth was at one time in Szegedin, at an- 
other with Dembinski and Visocky, — now in Arad conferring 
with Bem, and again in the council of the ministry; he ap- 
peared to have the gift of ubiquity, and at the same time 
redoubled his activity. Working incessantly to bring into 
efficiency the machinery of resistance, he yet forgot that the 
two chief springs of action had refused him service — the 
army of the Danube under Gorgey, and the banknote-press 
under the finance minister Duschek. 

Duschek had formerly filled the post of imperial counsellor 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



273 




Duschek. 



in one of the offices of the Vienna ministry. Ever a decided 
imperialist, his joining Kossuth and his position in the revo- 
lutionary government, created a greater sensation in the 
circles of the Viennese aristocracy than the defection of 
many persons of higher station. He remained at Kossuth's 
side until the end of the war, slowly but siu-ely counterwork- 
ing all his measures, like his evil spirit, and offering every 
impediment to his operations silently but perseveringly. The 
consequence was, that want of money gradually spread dis- 
content among the troops ; Kossuth was besieged by all the 
generals for arrears of pay, and was unable to meet the de- 
mand. 

18 



274 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



While in this manner the difficulties and confusion daily 
increased in the Magyar camp, the Austrian generals pursued 
their plan of operations with irresistible rapidity. Nugent 
had hastened to the aid of the ban, in order to set his move- 
ments free ; after the retreat of Dembinski and Visocky, 
Colonel Korponai with the landsturm, could not possibly 
longer prevent the passage of the Theiss. Paskiewitsch, 
after the unsuccessful attack of his generals Grabbe and 
Sacken on the remains of Gorgey's army, had started with 
the second and third corps from Csege for Debreczin; while 
the fourth secured the communication by Tokay and the 
tranquillity of the mining districts. Haynau marched to- 
ward Szegedin, leaving before Komorn a small investing 
corps under Csorich. 

Haynau had not yet arrived there, when from the west he 
received the news of an event, which spread excitement and 
apprehension throughout the whole monarchy. Komorn had 
once more set in motion her formidable arms ; Klapka had 
on the 3d of August made a grand sortie, which threw into 
the hands of the garrison the Schutt Island and the shore of 
the Danube as far as Hochstrass and Wieselburg. With 
twenty-four fieldpieces, eight thousand infantry, and four 
divisions of hussars, he outflanked Barko's position, attacked 
the widely-extended investing troops at Mocsa, Puszta Her- 
kaly, and Puszta Chem, and drove them with immense loss 
through Puszta Lovad in the direction of Raab. At the 
same time he ordered an attack to be made on the Austrians 
on the Schutt Island, in which they lost the whole of their 
baggage and all their guns, repulsed the enemy on the left 
bank to Szered, and on the 4th occupied Raab, and threat- 
ened Wieselburg, Pressburg, and the frontier. 

Besides the enemy's loss of a great number of men, with 
their whole park of artillery, the garrison " captured at Acs 
twenty-seven hundred and sixty head of oxen, five boats 
laden with corn and powder, five hundred thousand cwt. of 
flour, and forty thousand uniforms. 

The terror of this expedition, which was more than a mere 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 275 



sortie, spread to Vienna with the rapidity of lightning. 
Austrian and Russian fugitives (many only in their night- 
dress) had fled to Pressburg, carrying the news of the gen- 
eral's carelessness in face of a fortress so manned and pro- 
vided as Komorn. The Vienna fauxbourgs, the birthplace 
and cradle of Austrian democracy, were already making 
secret preparations for the reception of the Hungarians, by 
whom they hoped to be freed from the state of siege and 
courts-martial. In many houses of the nobility, all was in 
readiness for flight; Haynau himself was alarmed, and or- 
dered a strong column of his army back to Pesth. 

But Klapka had set a limit to his enterprise, which, as a 
general under command, and responsible for the safety of 
Komorn, he considered himself not justified in exceeding. 
Among his ofiicers, indeed, there were not a few who longed 
boldly to march upon Vienna — a step which, from the posi- 
tion of the Austrians at that time, would have been attended 
with no great risk ; but Klapka set his face against any such 
proposal. "It was neither his wish, nor within the scope of 
his orders, to undertake romantic campaigns." 

Komorn received its newly-gained booty, and wrapped itself 
once more in the grandeur of silence. Klapka's expedition 
was the last bright ray of fortune for Hungary, — the last 
flicker of heroic resistance before its entire extinction. 

Kossuth was resolved to hold possession of Szegedin. On 
the evening of his arrival, thousands had assembled in the 
great square under his balcony by torchlight and moonlight, 
and there sworn to fight to the last. The Theiss in the west, 
and the troops of Dembinski, Visocky, Vetter, and Guyon, 
together with the enthusiastic population of Szegedin, ap- 
peared to him strong enough to defend the intrenchments, 
which surround the city in a semicircle on the east. 

On the 29th of July, Guyon, according to the orders he 
had received, arrived at Szegedin with his victorious corps 
from the south. Ten battalions, consisting of eight thousand 
men, all good and tried soldiers, defiled before Kossuth in 
the market-place, — the same troops who had defeated the ban 



2T6 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



at Hegyes and driven him back to Titel. The eighth batta- 
lion, -which had distinguished itself pre-eminently on that oc- 
casion, was addressed by Kossuth, and its standard decorated 
with the order of merit of the third class : these troops, re- 
inforced by five thousand newly-organized levies, took up 
their position in the intrenchments. With this force, the 
whole army amounted to thirty-four thousand men ; the na- 
tional guards had been obliged to deliver up their arms, and 
were on this account imbittered against the government; 
having in their first engagements with the Serbs shown that 
they could make a good use of them. But, since it had been 
resolved to abandon the city after a short resistance, it was 
necessary to save the arms of the citizens from the enemy's 
hands, and store them in safety for future struggles. 

On the 1st of August the members of the diet quitted the 
town, from whose towers the Austrian outposts were distinctly 
visible. The banknote-press had been previously transported 
to Arad. On the same day the entire Hungarian army 
crossed the Theiss on four pontoon-bridges, and occupied 
New Szegedin on the farther shore, to oppose the passage of 
the river by the Austrians. Haynau, who had already re- 
moved his headquarters beyond Felegyhaza, and burnt down 
Czongrad, whose inhabitants had taken up arms, found to his 
no small astonishment the intrenchments deserted. Szege- 
din, which to all appearance should have proved a second 
Saragossa, was occupied by the Austrians without a blow. 

Gorgey had divided his army at Nyiregyhaza. Nagy 
Sandor was ordered to advance to Debreczin by forced 
marches, with a view to reach that town before the Russians, 
and keep them occupied as long as possible : the other troops 
were despatched to Nagy Kalto, Vamos Pirts, and Kis Maria, 
with orders to advance from these positions southward. Gor- 
gey knew that the Russian main army had crossed the Theiss 
without opposition, and was obliged to keep to the left, in 
order to avoid a dangerous encounter. A remarkable cir- 
cumstance likewise, which must not be forgotten, was, that 
during the whole of his memorable retreat Gorgey continued 



THE REVOLUTION 'IN HUNGARY. 277 



to receive accurate information of the enemy's positions ; 
while the Russians, by the admission of the commander-in- 
chief, in the genuine Magyar counties on the Theiss, were 
unable to obtain a single trustworthy spy. 

Dembinski had advanced with his whole forces to Tisza- 
fured and Csege, but delayed from motives of prudence to 
penetrate farther into the great Hungarian plain. The left 
flank of his army was covered by the extentive marshes of 
Margita, bordered by tobacco-plantations, which, alternating 
with thickets of gigantic reeds, form the principal vegetation 
of this part of the country ; on his right lay the outskirts of 
the immense Hortobagy morass, behind him the Theiss, be- 
fore him the wide plain, the district of the Magyar Haiduck- 
towns and the Debreczin heath. He sent troops to recon- 
noitre the country for miles around, and gain authentic in- 
formation of the enemy's position ; but the Hungarians were 
nowhere to be seen, and the headquarters were therefore ad- 
vanced to Uj-Varos, (1st of August.) The Russian main 
army still numbered sixty thousand men, notwithstanding 
that Grabbe stayed behind to watch the mining districts, and 
a second column remained at Szolnok under Colonel Chrulew 
to facilitate General Benedek's passage of the Theiss. This 
powerful army was set in motion on the 2d of August from 
Uj-Naros to Debreczin. The maize has at this season of the 
year attained its full growth ; while on the lower part of the 
stem the female flower-bud is already metamorphosed into 
the fruit-bud, the light yellow male blossoms still crown the 
plant with their full tufts, giving to the country around the 
monotonous, tawny aspect of a desert. In a gentle breeze 
the plain has all the appearance of a yellow sea, while the 
thick plantations shut out any distant view. A body of 
troops wishing to turn out of the beaten path, to the right 
or left, would be obliged to cut their way through the maize 
fields, as through the tangled and luxuriant vegetation in 
tropical forests. These plantations, although consisting of 
such fragile single plants, can thus be used as places of con- 
cealment and for other strategical purposes, where extending 



278 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 




Paskiewitsch. 



over a large tract of country. On one occasion, the Serbs in 
the Bacska tooli advantage of them in war with as much 
skill and dexterity as the Indians exhibit when fighting in the 
primeval forests of the New World. The Hungarian gene- 



THE KEVOLUTION IN HUNaARY. 



2T9 




Nagy Sandor at the battle near Debreczin. 



rals had taken a lesson from the Serbs ; and Nagy Sandor, 
on whom the forlorn task had devolved of holding an open 
town with eight thousand men against an army of eighty 
thousand, turned the maize plantations to the greatest advan- 
tage. His outposts were stationed immediately in front of 
the town, behind garden-hedges, ditches, and barricades of 
trees, in such a manner that four squadrons and two cannon 
only were visible. The Russian cavalry were prevented by 
the maize-fields from operating en masse, and their attempt 
to outflank the advanced posts of Nagy Sandor was repulsed 
by the masked Honved artillery. The prince himself in his 
bulletin mentions in terms of praise the masterly serving of 
the enemy's batteries, which could not be forced from their 
positions without considerable loss. For this purpose he 
ordered four batteries under General Gillenschmitt to advance 
against the enemy's left wing ; and as soon as the heavy ar- 
tillery of the Hungarians began to open its fire on this side, 
four Russian brigades in full battle array, and covered by 



280 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



Cossacks and Mussulmen, marched upon the town for a gene- 
ral attack. Nagy Sandor was to be seen wherever the dan- 
ger was greatest ; he repeatedly sent couriers to Gorgey, who 
was with his army only thirteen miles from the field of battle, 
imploring him to advance as rapidly as possible. The Rus- 
sian columns were so much divided, that Gorgey's arrival 
might still have rendered the victory doubtful. But to all 
appearance, on the left bank of the Theiss, the negotiations 
between Gorgey and Paskiewitsch had already assumed a de- 
cisive character ; Gorgey did not stir, but with laconic brevity 
and coldness merely reminded the brave Nagy Sandor of the 
orders he had received to evacuate Debreczin after an attempt 
at resistance. 

In consequence of this conduct, no alternative remained to 
Nagy Sandor. The hussars, attacked in front and flank, 
galloped back into the streets of the town in disorderly flight, 
followed by the Honyeds in the utmost confusion. Nagy 
Sandor succeeded in arresting their flight, and led his batta- 
lions in good order out of the town ; they were considerably 
thinned, and on their retreat suffered still further loss, while 
four pieces of heavy artillery, with a large store of ammuni- 
tion and baggage were left behind. The prince entered De- 
breczin on the evening of the same day, accompanied by the 
Grand-duke Constantine, who had shared in the engagement. 
On the approach of night the Cossacks relinquished the pur- 
suit of the Hungarians, and encamped before the town, which 
had witnessed the most decided victory the Russians had ob- 
tained over the Magyars (a disproportionately small force 
indeed) during the whole campaign. 

If — as is not improbable — Gorgey, even after the battle on 
the Hernad, had still clung to the idea of effecting a junction 
with the other corps at the decisive moment, to prove the 
superiority of his talents and the importance of his service 
at such a crisis, to save Hungary by a great battle, and at 
the same time to annihilate Kossuth and his party, — if it is 
true, that before the passage of the Theiss he had still in- 
dulged in such illusions, these must surely have vanished. 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 281 



when he sent Nagy Sandor from Nyiregy-Haza to Debreczin, 
■when he remained inactive after the former had entreated his 
aid, and when at last for want of succour the corps of this 
brave general fled weakened and dispirited to Grosswardein. 
Gorgey himself passed Debreczin by a circuitous route east 
of the town ; the only road open to him was that to the south, 
for Grotjenhelm and Luders had already made their appear- 
ance on the western outlets of Transylvania. Necessity 
compelled him to draw near to the other Magyar generals ; 
the enemy showed to him the road, which duty had from the 
first vainly pointed out to him, and thus he united before 
Grosswardein with the unfortunate remains of Nagy Sander's 
corps, to take the road to Arad. On the 7th Rudiger occu- 
pied Grosswardein, the gigantic storehouse of the Hunga- 
rians, and followed in Gorgey's footsteps, evidently less with 
the object of annihilating than observing him, and of being 
in readiness for battle as soon as the expected moment of in- 
evitable surrender arrived. 

In and around Szegedin, in face of the ancient town on 
the left shore of the Theiss, where a year before the Serbs 
suffered a sanguinary repulse from the national guards, stood 
the Hungarian forces, which after the dispersion of the 
Danube army had the honour of being named the main army, 
under Dembinski, Meszaros, Guyon, Yisocky, Dessewffy, and 
Kmetty. One division only remained behind to oppose the 
passage of the Austrians ; the rest encamped on the Maros 
between St. Ivany and Szorgen. The commander-in-chief 
of the Austrian army allowed his troops but a short rest, and 
then ordered General Prince Lichstenstein to attack New 
Szegedin. Two bridges were thrown across the river in the 
face of the enemy's batteries, but these were destroyed, with 
all the brave men who had ventured upon them to gain the 
opposite shore. The yellow, muddy water of the Theiss, 
scarcely ever fit for drink, was dyed red with the blood of the 
killed, and for a great distance, even beyond Szenta, no dog 
would quench his thirst in those waters. The Ramberg corps 
at Kanisza, who saw with horror the dead bodies of their 



282 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



brethren floating slowly down the stream, crossed the river 
after a slight skirmish; the Austrian main army took pos- 
session of New Szegedin, which was evacuated by Dembin- 
ski's rearguard ; the ban was pressing forward from the 
south, joined by Nugent, while the Russian army was ad- 
vancing from the north. The battle at Szoregh (5th of 
August) was obstinately and desperately fought, but lost by 
the Hungarians. Dembinski commanded the right wing, 
Gaal and Kmetty the left, Guyon the centre. Couriers were 
incessantly flying to and fro between Arad, whither Kossuth 
had withdrawn with a part of the House of Representatives, 
and Szoregh, the headquarters of Dembinski. Ere long, on 
the same road, the Hungarian army was seen flying in the 
utmost confusion, routed, dispirited, scattered in all direc- 
tions, no longer subject to any command. 

The reverses of the Hungarians in this great war were 
rapid and fearful. Unfortunately, Dembinski was wounded 
in the shoulder by a shot ; he fell from his horse, and was 
carried into a peasant's cottage ; for twenty-four hours the 
Hungarian army was without a commander. On the 6th of 
August, Mako was in the power of the imperialists, and thus 
the line of the Maros was forced. A retreat was inevitable, 
and Dembinski took the direction of Temesvar, which place 
was still besieged by Vecksey. Kossuth reproaches the 
Polish general severely for having marched to Temesvar in- 
stead of Arad. 

Whether Kossuth's reproach to Dembinski for his retreat 
to Temesvar (in which others have joined) is well-founded or 
not. it must be recollected that the Polish general in his 
operations could in no degree calculate on any junction with 
Gorgey, who, to judge from every circumstance and appear- 
ance, took all means of avoiding one. That Dembinski has 
been a great general, is a fact admitted by his most inveterate 
enemies. The news of Dembinski's defeat at Szoregh reached 
Kossuth at Arad. He was sitting, lost in meditation, on a 
■wooden bench in a miserable apartment of the fortress, which 
everywhere bore traces of the recent bombardment, when a 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 283 



courier brought him the intelligence. Fugitives had already 
spread the news through the town, and in the streets, where 
thousands of wagons stood drawn up. The most fearful con- 
fusion now arose : civil officers, private families, soldiers, 
women, children, camp-purveyors, were all rushing helter- 
skelter, endeavouring to escape from the threatened town. 
The banknote-press was removed to Lugos, the only place, in 
Kossuth's opinion, where it could be protected in the rear by 
Bem, and in front by Vecsey, who was besieging Temesvar. 
At length, on the 8th of August, the long-expected first 
columns of Gorgey's army arrived before Arad. Nagy 
Sandor, who commanded them, received from Kossuth the 
order to march on the 9th at daybreak, to take Vinga, and 
secure the communication with Temesvar ; but the troops 
were worn out by long marches, and dispirited by their heavy 
losses ; they suffered a discomfiture at Dreispitz and retreated 
to Arad, before which fortress Gorgey had arrived the same 
day with the remains of his once splendid army. He yielded 
an apparent assent to Kossuth's plans, and made all neces- 
sary arrangements on the 11th of August with his whole 
forces to free the road to Temesvar. But the same night ar- 
rived the disastrous news of the loss of the battle at Temes- 
var, in which Bem held a joint command, after having quitted 
Transylvania on the summons from Kossuth to take the com- 
mand-in-chief of all the troops. 

Temesvar is a strong fortress, and contained within its 
walls an heroic garrison. Lieutenant-fieldmarshal Rukowina, 
who held the command, defended every point of the town, re- 
solutely refusing all summons to surrender, until the roofs 
were fired over his soldiers' heads and the walls fell in ruins. 
When the Fabrik-faubourg was actually stormed and carried 
by the Honveds, he withdrew like a hunted badger into his 
furthest retreat, the proper fortress. Typhus and intermit- 
tent fever, cholera and want, shook the courage of the old 
warrior as little as the red-hot balls of Vecsey, who conducted 
the sie^e of the fortress. He remarked that the time for 
surrender would not arrive until his soldiers had gnawed the 



284 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



last skeleton of their horses, or " when the handkerchief in his 
coat-pocket should be set on fire." The brave old warrior 
did not hold out in vain : the garrison of Temesvar had the 
happiness of opening her gates to their brethren-in-arms. In 
face of the fortress, at Kis-Becskerek, the last decisive battle 
was fought ; for a long time the fortune of the day remained 
undecided, at last it turned in favour of the Austrians. 

Haynau's right wing was already repulsed, after the re- 
serve-artillery and the Paniutin division had in vain been 
brought on the scene of action, and the left wing was in 
danger of being outflanked by a strong detachment of hus- 
sars, concealed in the thickets and woods. Bern, who had 
committed the command of his Transylvanian troops to 
another general, and hastened via Lugos to Temesvar, to 
assume the command-in-chief, considered his enemy as already 
firmly in his power, and hoped to crush him at once, while 
the Austrian central columns vainly sacrificed their lives be- 
fore the batteries which Bern, taking skilful advantage of the 
ground, had opposed to their progress. But at the critical 
moment in the battle. Prince Lichtenstein appeared v/ith his 
corps from Hodos, whence he had pursued the fugitive Hon- 
veds; while Schlik, advancing from Mezohegyes, was seen 
advancing at Vinga. The fate of the battle was now decided ; 
Lichtenstein brought a strong reinforcement to the repulsed 
wing of the Austrians, caused them to rally, and after a short 
pause led them on to the attack. 

The hussars were thrown into confusion by the shock, and 
Bem broke a collar-bone by a fall from his horse, over which 
he had for some time lost sufficient control, covered as he 
was with wounds. The confusion into which the Hungarians 
were thrown led to their dispersion and flight, such as Hun- 
gary had never before witnessed. Lichtehstein's timely ap- 
pearance on the field of battle and Gorgey's non-appearance 
were the causes that lost to Bem a victory he had so nearly 
gained. 

The immediate result of the loss of this battle was the re- 
lief of Temesvar. Haynau had the satisfaction of being the 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNUARY. 285 



first who, in the evening of that same day, (August 10th,) 
entered the gates of the fortress at the head of some squad- 
rons. The place was crowded with sick and wounded ; its 
outward appearance, and that of its defenders, showed that 
both had reached the extreme point, when defence was no 
longer possible. 

The morning sun of the 11th of August gilded the towers 
of two fortresses, distant only a few miles ; it shone upon 
two scenes which wore a remarkable contrast. In Temesvar, 
the poor half-starved Austrians crowded joyfully around their 
brethren and guests ; in Arad, the Hungarians stood gathered 
in mournful groups, their hearts heavy with despair and 
melancholy forebodings. On the one side, columns of troops, 
their friends and allies, entered the relieved fortress, amid 
joyous songs and warlike music ; on the other, all who were 
able fled out of the gloomy gates. In Temasvar, the Aus- 
trian generals, elated with victory, embraced one another ; 
in Arad, Kossuth and Gorgey stood at a bow-window in a 
small chamber of the fortress — met once more after so long 
a separation — to part for ever. 

What passed in those hours between them — their mutual 
reproaches and explanations — we know not ; whether Gor- 
gey's guilty conscience cowered before the glance of the 
governor, we can only conjecture; this alone we know, that 
Gorgey crossed the threshold of that apartment first into the 
open air, as dictator — Kossuth following him, a hopeless 
exile. 

Kossuth had all along governed in unison with the ma- 
jority of the National Assembly; he resigned his power 
when he believed Gorgey to be the only man capable of 
^ saving the country. Kossuth turned his steps southward, 
Gorgey to the north. This was not the first time that the 
paths of these men led in opposite directions. The new dic- 
tator, on the evening of the 11th of August, after being de- 
feated by the weaker corps of Schlik at New Arad, had 
marched his troops across the Maros back to Old Arad. 
From this place he announced to the Russian general his de- 



286 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



termination to surrender, together with the miserable condi- 
tions he demanded, and the place where he proposed to carry 
the act into execution. On the 12th, he marched toward 
Szollos, where Rudiger arrived on the 13th, according to ap- 
pointment. The act of laying down their arms by the Hun- 
garians took place on the fields between Kiss-Jeno and Szol- 
los, and this act will be designated in history as the surrender 
of Vilagos. 

The events which took place in Hungary after the catas- 
trophe of Vilagos formed the last convulsive struggle, that 
desperate strain of every nerve, which immediately preceded 
the fall of this heroic nation. The remains of the army of 
the Theiss separated at Lunos, where the semi-Wallachian 
population had buried in the earth their stores of corn, to 
withhold them from the starving fugitives. Bem, now com- 
mander-in-chief, could only prevail on a portion of his army 
to continue the war; the greater number of troops followed 
Gorgey's call to the north, whither he summoned them "to 
unite with the Russians." 

At Facset the army separated. Vecsey's corps, which was 
still a fine body of troops, and in the greatest strength, as it 
had taken no part in the battle of Temesvar, marched along 
the Maros to meet its fate, accompanied by the remains of 
other divisions. At Soborsin his Avhole train of artillery was 
captured ; and on the 19th of August he surrendered to the 
Russians. Bem and Guyon directed their march toward 
Transylvania ; but the Austrian main army pressed them on 
all sides, and old Dembinski declared to his countryman Bem, 
that under these circumstances he was no longer able to^ con- 
tinue the struggle. Kmetty alone, with about four thousand 
men, encountered the tenfold superior forces of the Aus- 
trians, in and before Lugos, to cover the road to the south; 
with his brave troops he arrested the enemy's march for more 
than half a day, and then sought refuge in Turkey by way 
of Mehadia. Bem and Guyon advanced as far as Dobra 
with their corps, which then dispersed in all directions into 
the mountains. The generals remained alone, and there bade 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 287 



farewell to a country endeared to them by so many recollec- 
tions, (17tli of August.) 

In. Transylvania the Szeklers continued to fight with des- 
peration, defeated the Austrian General Urban at Banffy- 
Hunyad, and ultimately surrendered to the Russians at Sibo. 
Lazar, who remained at Deva with his troops, laid down his 
arms to General Simbschen. 

Damianich, in compliance with Gorgey's direction, surren- 
dered Arad unconditionally to General Rudiger ; entertain- 
ing the firm belief, that now, for the first time, and in alli- 
ance with Russia, the real war was to commence. Munkacs 
capitulated to the Russians on tl\e 26th of August. Peter- 
wardein opened her gates to the Austrians on the 7th of 
September. 

Komorn alone proudly and resolutely rejected every sum- 
mons for unconditional surrender. Klapka's messengers 
traversed the country, with a view to obtain correct informa- 
tion on the state of aJ0Fairs. Fugitive Honveds, single horse- 
men who had escaped from the enemy, wan and haggard sol- 
diers, brought the news of what had taken place. The black- 
yellow flags waving upon the ramparts of all the other for- 
tresses, the pale look of despair in every Magyar's face, 
confirmed the truth of these accounts. Komorn capitulated, 
under favourable conditions, on the 27th of September. 

In Hungary, Klapka has been reproached by many for not 
including, in the terms of surrender, articles which might 
have secured the political existence of the country ; but this 
reproach vanishes, when we learn the mean, haggling conduct 
of the Austrian generals, from whom Klapka had to fight 
inch by inch for every point he obtained. 

Kossuth, Dembinski, Bem, Perczel, Casimir Batthyanyi, 
Szemere, Kmetty, Guyon, Visocki, Vetter, and Meszaros fled 
to Turkey, where their residence or extradition was made a 
question of political debate by the European powers. The 
finance minister, Duschek, resides undisturbed in Austria, 
having successfully laboured in her interest. Casimir Bat- 
thyanyi, who only a few days before the final catastrophe had 



288 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 




Count Casimir Batthyanyi. 



advanced to Duschek out of his own pocket tte sum of ten 
thousand florins in Austrian banknotes, vainly entreated him 
to return to him his money : the finance minister was inex- 
orable, and delivered it over to Austria, together with the 
other funds in his hands. Horvath and Yukovich fortunately 
escaped to Paris. 

In Bem there was no wavering or hesitation: his inflexible 
mind was a stranger to all by-paths, on which men of a less 
firm character often stand, irresolute and doubtful what course 
to pursue. Bem's guide through life was hatred of Russia, 
— this was his pillar of cloud by day and his pillar of fire by 



THE KEVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 289 



night. To this hatred, rooted in his very soul, he has a 
thousand times offered to sacrifice his life, and at last his 
Christian belief. Dembinski, who on his departure from 
Paris declared, that his object in going to Hungary was to 
win by the sword a point of union between his own country 
and the South-Sclaves, has always remained a Pole, and 
fought on the Theiss for his brethren on the Vistula. 

On the 6th of October, thirteen generals and staff-officers 
were executed. Fom- of these heroic men met their end at 
daybreak, the commutation of their sentence to "powder and 
lead" exempting them from the anguish of witnessing the 
death of their companions in arms. Among the rest was 
Ernest Kiss. His friends at Vienna had interceded to save 
his life, but in vain. He died a painful death : the Austrian 
soldiers who were ordered to carry the sentence into effect, 
and who for a whole year had faced the fire of the Hungarian 
artillery, trembled before their defenceless victim : three 
separate volleys were fired before Kiss fell — his death-strug- 
gles lasted full ten minutes. 

The report of the firing was heard in the castle, where 
those officers sentenced to be hanged were preparing for 
death. Poltenberg had been in a profound sleep, and star- 
tled, as he told the Austrian officer, by the first volley, he 
had jumped out of bed. The unhappy man had been dream- 
ing that he was in face of the enemy, and heard the firing 
of alarm signals at his outposts — it was the summons from 
the grave. 

At six o'clock in the morning the condemned officers were 
led to the place of execution. Old Aulich died first : he was 
the most advanced in years, and the court-martial seemed 
thus to respect the natural privilege of age. Distinguished 
by his zeal and efforts in the cause of his country more than 
by the success which attended them, Aulich was inferior to 
many of his comrades in point of talent ; but in uprightness 
and strength of character none surpassed him. 

Count Leiningen was the third in succession, and the 
youngest. An opportunity had been offered him, late on the 

19 



290 THE REVOLUTION IN HUNaARY. 



preceding evening, of escaping bj flight ; but he would not 
separate his fate from that of his brother-in-law, who was a 
prisoner in the fortress. His youth, perhaps, inspired him 
with a desire of giving to his elder companions in sorrow 
around him an example of heroic stoicism in death ; and, on 
reaching the place of execution, he exclaimed, with melan- 
choly humour, " They ought at least to have treated us to a 
breakfast!" One of the guard of soldiers compassionately 
handed him his wine-flask. " Thank you, my friend," said 
the young general, " I want no wine to give me courage, — 
bring me a glass of water." He then wrote on his knee 
with a pencil the following farewell words to his brother-in- 
law : " The shots which this morning laid my poor comrades 
low still resound in my ears, and before me hangs the body 
of, Aulich on the gallows. In this solemn momfent, when I 
must prepare to appear before my Creator, I once more pro- 
test against the charge of cruelty at the taking of Buda 
which an infamous slanderer has raised against me. On the. 
contrary, I have on all occasions protected the Austrian pri- 
soners. I commend to you my poor Liska and my two chil- 
dren. I die for a cause which has always appeared to me 
just and holy. If in happier days my friends ever desire to 
avenge my death, let them reflect that humanity is the best 
political wisdom. As for" .... here the hangman inter- 
rupted him : it was time to die. 

Torek, Lahner, Poltenberg, Nagy Sandor, Knezich, died 
-one after the other. Vecsey was the last ; perhaps they 
wished, by this ninefold aggravation of his torment, to make 
him sufier for the destruction caused by his cannon at Temes- 
var^ Damianich preceded him. The usual dark colour of 
his large features was heightened by rage and impatience. 
His view had never extended farther than the glittering point 
of his heavy sabre ; this was the star which he had followed 
throughout life ; but now he saw whither it had conducted 
him, and impatiently he exclaimed, when limping up to the 
■gallows, " Why is it that I, who have always been foremost 
to face the enemy's fire, must here be the last?" The de- 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



291 




Hungarian patriots in prison. 



liberate slowness of the work of butchery, seemed to discon- 
cert him more than the approach of death, which he had de- 
fied in a hundred battles. 

This terrible scene lasted from six until nine o'clock. Nine 
gibbets stood in a line ; for all, there were only one hangman 
and two assistants. All the victims died with the calmness 
and composure worthy of brave but conquered soldiers, with- 
out a trace of cowardice, without a sign of that enthusiasm 
which they had suflficiently manifested in life ; they could 
well afford to disdain any outward expression of it in the face 
of death. But in Aulich's eyes shone forth the spirit of the 
martyr for- freedom : Damianich's features wore an expres- 
sion of rage ; in Leiningen's eyes glistened a tear, at parting 
with life so young and prematurely. 

Count Louis Batthyanyi the former president of the Hun- 
garian ministry, was sentenced to terminate his career upon 
the gallows, on the same day at Pesth. The fate of this gal- 



292 



THE REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 




Count Louis Batthyanyi. 



lant nobleman excited great sympathy througiiout the civilized 
world. The more important persons who were executed be- 
sides those we have mentioned were, Prince Woronieczy, 
Peter Giron, Charles Abancourt, Baron Perenyi, Emerich 
Scaervay, Csernyus, Louis Csanyi, Baron Jessenek, and Louis 
Karinozy. Such were the terrible results of Gorgey's ambi- 



THE KEVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. 



293 



tion and treachery. The traitor restored peace to his coun- 
try, according to his boast ; but it was the silence of the 
prison and the grave. 

The heroic Hungarians lay at the feet of the savage Hay- 
nau. No measures calculated to make them feel their defeat 
were neglected. Their lives and property were sacrificed to 
gratify a fiendish desire for revenge. Their conquerors had 
no appreciation of their valour and conduct; for, certainly, 
a nobler struggle for freedom was never maintained. 




rUU TT il. 



294 



LIBERAL MOVEMENTS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 




Victoria. 



CHAPTER VII. 



LIBERAL MOVEMENTS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



Attempts were made in England and Ireland to imitate 
the revolutionary movements on the Continent ; but the fail- 
ure in both instances was total and lamentable. The power 
of the British government was quietly but vigorously exerted, 
and a growl from the old lion was a death-blow to the hopes 
of the radicals. 

The 10th of April, 1848, was fixed upon for holding a great 
meeting upon Kennington Common, whence two hundred thou- 
sand men were to march to Westminster, present a petition 



LIBERAL MOVEMENTS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 295 



to Parliament for the Charter, and "wait for an answer." 
The intention was obviously to effect a revolution by the sum- 
mary process which had prevailed in most of the capitals of 
Europe ; and it was confidently predicted by the orators of 
the Chartist Convention, then sitting in London, that the 
Charter would be the law of the land before bedtime on the 
10th of April. But their leader, Fergus O'Connor, was not 
fitted for his post, and no man possessing the ability and the 
daring energy of a revolutionary leader appeared. The 
masses, whose only avenue to representation in parliament 
was plain force, were doomed to disappointment for want of 
a head. 

The preventive measures of government, devised and per- 
sonally worked by the Duke of Wellington, were on a large 
and complete scale, though so arranged as not to obtrude 
themselves needlessly on the view. The Thames bridges were 
the main points of concentration; bodies of foot and horse 
police, and assistant masses of special constables, being posted 
at their approaches on either side. In the immediate neigh- 
bourhood of each of them, within call, a strong force of 
military was kept ready for instant movement. Two regi- 
ments of the line were kept in hand at Milbank Penitentiary ; 
twelve hundred infantry at Deptford dockyard, and thirty 
pieces of heavy field-ordnance at the Tower, all ready for 
transport by hired steamers, to any spot wher6 serious busi- 
ness might threaten. At other places also bodies of troops 
were posted, out of sight, but within sudden command. 

In addition to the regular civil and military force, it is 
credibly estimated that at least one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand special constables were sworn and organized throughout 
the metropolis, for the stationary defence of their own dis- 
tricts, or as movable bodies to co-operate with the soldiery 
and police. On the other hand, the muster on the Common 
fell far short of the grand number predicted. The whole 
gathering did not exceed twenty thousand, one-half of whom 
were spectators, led to the spot by mere curiosity. The 
Chartists submitted quietly to their defeat; the detached rolls 



296 LIBERAL MOVEMENTS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



of their monster petition were despatched in hackney-cabs to 
Westminster ; the crowd broke up ; and after some slight com- 
bating, in which no serious casualty occurred, it was manoeu- 
vred into detailed masses and quietly dispersed ; and the day 
of intended revolution ended in a gossiping wonderment. 

Two months afterward the leaders of the violent section of 
the Chartists began again to trouble the public peace. Nu- 
merous riots, some of them attended with loss of life, took 
place in Scotland and in the midland counties of England ; 
and open-air meetings were held in the metropolis, in which 
language of the most incendiary kind was uttered by Messrs. 
Ernest Jones, Williams, Sharpe, Yernon, Looney, and Fus- 
sell, the last of whom strenuously recommended the expedient 
of private assassination. They were all brought to trial for 
these offences, convicted, and sentenced to two years' impri- 
sonment, and to find recognisances for their future good be- 
haviour. Subsequently, the police detected a widely-ramified 
conspiracy to efi'ect a simultaneous rising in London, Man- 
chester, and other towns, and to burn, slay, and pillage in all 
directions. Cuffay, Lacey, and Fay, the metropolitan ring- 
leaders, were transported for life, and a great number of the 
other conspirators were subjected to various degrees of pun- 
ishment. 

The Irish rebellion, heralded by far more boisterous and 
truculent boastings than the Chartist plot, failed still more 
ignominiously. Newspapers had been founded for the avowed • 
purpose of openly preaching treason, and teaching the art of 
street-fighting, with the most ingenious devices for maiming 
and torturing troops by means of vitriol, bottles turned "into 
handgrenades, and other missiles. War-clubs were every- 
where established, whole cargoes of fire-arms were imported 
and sold by auction in the fairs and markets, all the smiths in 
Ireland were at work, night and day, manufacturing pikes, 
and nothing less was talked of than a levy en masse of the 
Celtic population to exterminate the Saxon intruders. Mr. 
Smith O'Brien, Mr. Meagher, and Mr. O'Gorman went to 
Paris to solicit French aid. On the third of April, they 



298 LIBERAL MOVEMENTS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



waited. on Lamartine with congratulatory addresses from 
various bodies of Irish, but received from the foreign minister 
of the Republic a reply that effectually extinguished all their 
hopes of support from that quarter. Returning to Ireland, 
Messrs. O'Brien and Meagher were in the following month 
tried for sedition ; but the juries would not agree to a verdict in 
either case. Mr. Mitchell, the editor of the famous war-journal, 
the Nation, was not so fortunate; he was found guilty, and 
shipped off to Bermuda, under sentence of fourteen years' 
transportation. 

Still the confederates continued their sanguinary ravings, 
and the preparations for rebellion went on with unabated ac- 
tivity. Lord Clarendon calmly and steadily watching the con- 
spirators, and noiselessly providing means to defeat their 
plans. The legislature had strengthened his hands by an act 
suspending the right of habeas corpus in Ireland, and by 
other enactments suited to the state of a country on the eve 
of a rebellion. At last the leaders of the Irish Confederation 
took the field. Messrs. O'Brien, Doheny, Meagher, and Dil- 
lon, the two former dressed in gorgeous uniforms, threw 
themselves among the colliers of Tipperary, and summoned 
them to the destruction of the infamous old English empire. 
A single battle began and ended the campaign. On Satur- 
day, July 29, Mr. O'Brien and some thousands of his followers 
were ignominiously beaten by less than fifty policemen, who 
had posted themselves in the widow M'Cormack's house at 
Boulaugh. Seven of the insurgents were killed, and many 
wounded ; and so ended the Irish Rebellion of 1848, crushed 
at a blow, and without the aid of one soldier of the line, by a 
small party of the same creed, race, and station as the rebels 
themselves. O'Brien, Meagher, M'Manus, and O'Donohue, 
fell into the hands of the authorities, were 'tried at Clonmel, 
and were sentenced, on the 9th of October, to death for high 
treason. A writ of error was entered for each of the con- 
victs; and while it was pending it became known that in any 
event the Government would not enforce the full sentence of 



LIBERAL MOVEMENTS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 299 



the law. At length the sentence was commuted to transpor- 
tation for life to Van Dieman's land. 

The parliamentary session which began on the 18th of No- 
vember, 1847, and terminated on the 5th of September, 1848, 
was one of unexampled length, but of little practical efficacy. 
Its chief produce was a set of coercive and penal acts for the 
better enabling of the executive to curb diaffection, but the 
list of its enactments tending to any positive improvement 
was so brief as to be almost nugatory. Parliament was sum- 
moned at an unusually early period to consider and counteract 
the commercial distress that so heavily affected the country; 
but the violence of the crisis was over before members could 
come together, and the proposed inquiry was dropped, the 
country was left to take its chance of another panic, and 
nothing was done to secure a permanently safer condition of 
commercial affairs. The case was just the same with every 
other great question that was pressed upon the consideration 
of the legislature : in all but two or three instances of no 
great moment, the decision was postponed to the next session. 



LIBRARY 



300 



FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 




SL^ 



Louis Napoleon. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FRENCH MOVEMENTS— FROM THE SIEGE OP ROME TO 
PRESIDENT BONAPARTE'S COUP D'ETAT. 



A FEW days after the reception of the news of the repulse 
of Oudinot, at Rome, a fearful insurrection broke out in the 
principal cities of France. In Paris it was suppressed with- 
out much difficulty ; but in Lyons it threatened for a while 
to overthrow the government. On the 15th, a large body of 
men, carrying red flags, marched through the city, shouting 
against the republic. After endeavouring to unite with some 
infantry they proceeded toward Limonest, disarming, in their 
way, some isolated posts. Then returning to Lyons, they 



FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 301 



captured some military stations, making prisoners of a por- 
tion of the garrison, and inducing the remainder to join them. 
From these places they hurried to the Croix Rousse, the 
population of which received them with enthusiasm. At 
half-past ten they appeared before the bridge which connects 
the latter place with the city proper, and demanded a free 
passage. The commanding officer replied in an evasive man- 
ner ; the insurgents shouted incessantly, " Long live the 
Line !" for the purpose of inducing the soldiers to join them. 
The officer commanded them to retire ; he approached, ex- 
claiming that the troops were on their side. The soldiers 
were then ordered to fire, at which more than a dozen of the 
rioters fell wounded, the remainder flying in every direction. 

The firing was the signal for a general commotion through- 
out the city. The insurgents rallied, bells were rung, arms 
of all kinds were demanded, and barricades were erected in 
several streets. Some firing was heard at intervals until two 
o'clock, when the authorities, having completed their arrange- 
ments for a vigorous restoration of order, pushed a column 
of infantry, numbering twenty-five hundred men, with eight 
cannon, against the principal defences of the insurgents. 
When the commanding general, Magnan, arrived at the height 
between Lyons and the Croix Rousse, he briefly exhorted his 
soldiers to do their duty. They answered by cries of "Long 
live the Republic !" The attack commenced by the cannon 
playing on each barricade, after which the soldiers rushed 
forward with the bayonet. At this moment the soldiers 
placed in front of the barricades the prisoners whom they 
had taken, at the same time aiming from behind them. At 
first the resistance was spirited ; but at length the insurgents 
were heard to cry that they had been deceived, and that the 
army was not with them. At five o'clock they had been 
driven from the barricades, and the severe fire kept up from 
the windows of houses was suppressed. 

While General Magnan was executing this attack in front, 
a battalion of infantry with six pieces arrived by another 
road, thus cutting off the retreat of the insurgents, and ran- 



302 FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 



dering further resistance useless. At the same time several 
barricades were captured at the Croix Rousse ; and an at- 
tempt of the insurgents to seize the church of St. Polycarp 
was frustrated by the vigilance of a band of infantry. At 
night, order had been restored. In the various skirmishes of 
the day, one hundred and fifty of the insurgents were killed, 
and eight hundred wounded. The military lost in all about 
sixty. The city was placed under military guard until morn- 
ing. The bridges were guarded by artillery and cavalry ; 
companies were placed at the corners of the streets ; and all 
the barricades were garrisoned. Quiet was fully restored, 
and the city soon resumed its wonted appearance. Twelve 
hundred persons, it is affirmed, is a small estimate of the 
number captured on this day and succeeding ones, in Lyons 
alone. The number concerned in the insurrection is vari- 
ously estimated from ten to twenty-five thousand. 

From the difl"erent accounts of this insurrection, it seems 
evident that, for some time previous to its occurrence, an or- 
ganized conspiracy, whose object was the overthrow of the 
government, existed throughout France. Of this movement, 
Ledru Rollin, Felix Pyat, and a few others, were the master 
spirits. It was boldly proclaimed in the Assembly, that a 
strong demonstration was in preparation, while out of doors 
the threats and exclamations were still more violent. The 
club organized from the Mountain, to take cognisance of all 
the legislative proceedings and executive measures, de- 
nounced all branches of the government as traitorous, and, 
in form, outlawed the president and his ofiicers. 

The pretext for the movement was the French intervention 
at Rome. Ledru Rollin had already proposed the immediate 
impeachment of Louis Napoleon and his ministers, threaten- 
ing that if not gratified his party would resort to arms. 
Thus warned, the ministry prepared for resistance. Troops 
were placed under General Changarnier ; and when the 
Mountain endeavoured to carry their measures by violence, 
the government speedily suppressed the out-door tumult, and 
arrested some of the rioters. According to an influential 



FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 303 



journal, the conspirators meditated the establishment of the 
"Democratic and Social Republic." The president, the 
minister, a majority of the Assembly were to be outlawed ; a 
proscription list was prepared ; war was to be declared against 
Russia and Austria ; while plundering and confiscation were 
to be the order of the day. Among the various documents 
seized by government, was a list naming the oflBcers of the 
Social Republic. Ledru Rollin was to be dictator, with the 
right of life and death over every French citizen ; Felix 
Pyat, Minister of the Interior ; an ignorant sergeant named 
Boichat, Minister of War; and Sergeant Rattier, General- 
in-chief of the armed forces, with dictatorial right of elec- 
tion. 

The movement however was a miserable blunder — prema- 
ture, badly managed, destitute of principle. The call to 
arms found no echo ; and the troops, with insignificant excep- 
tions, rallied around the government at the first call. After 
the insurrection had been suppressed, the government, with a 
haste and disregard of consequences, inseparable from French 
legislation, resorted to measures well calculated to produce, 
in no long time, another outbreak. Although soldiers and 
citizens were with them, and there appeared no likelihood of 
further disturbance, yet Paris was placed in a state of siege ; 
all the opposition journals were suppressed ; clubs and poli- 
tical meetings were interdicted for the space of a year ; and 
every means taken to arrest even those who laboured only 
under suspicion of being opposed to government. The As- 
sembly debated the expediency of arresting the one hundred 
and twenty-five members, who, as was believed, had signed 
an opposition placard ; but lest so great a loss of number 
might give a preponderance to the legitimatists, the design 
was abandoned. 

General Oudinot continued his advances upon Rome until 
the close of June. Some spirited attempts were made upon 
separate points of the defences ; shells and other missiles 
were thrown into the city ; and the garrison was repeatedly 
summoned to surrender. But notwithstanding the loss of 



304 FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 



their property, the destruction of many monuments of art, 
and their personal sufferings, the soldiery and inhabitants 
still persisted in their resistance. Early in July the Consti- 
tuent Assembly unanimously voted the constitution of the 
Republic, and ordered it to be deposited in the capitol. 
They also ordered funeral services to be celebrated in St. 
Stephen's for those who had fallen in defence of the Re- 
public. 

But it had now become evident that further resistance was 
useless. The French had surrounded the city ; their cannon 
pointed toward its most populated quarters ; the garrison, 
though determined, was small ; and an assault, besides caus- 
ing great slaughter, would in all probability terminate in the 
capture of the city and the ruin of some of its finest monu- 
ments of art. To prevent such a calamity, negotiations were 
opened with the French ; terms of capitulation were signed ; 
and Rome opened her gates to a French army. At the same 
time. Garibaldi passed through the city with ten thousand 
men, and succeeded in effecting his escape. The Assembly 
announced by proclamation the arrival of the French troops, 
and recommended abstinence from all vengeance, denouncing 
it as useless, and unworthy the dignity of Roman citizens. 
The French army entered, July 3, in the evening ; the sol- 
diers cleared the streets of barricades ; and by dark the 
troops were consigned to their various quarters. A new go- 
vernment was formed ; the troops were stationed in places 
favourable for suppressing disturbances ; some companies 
were despatched in pursuit of Garibaldi ; and in order that 
the Romans might not mistake <-as to the nature of the pro- 
tection to be afforded them by their new deliverers, the arms 
of the pope were run up in a conspicuous place. 

The war now commenced between the president and the 
Assembly. The despotic designs of Bonaparte were every 
day rendered more obvious. His party in the Assembly 
agreed with the legitimatists in all their reactionary schemes ;. 
and the real republicans were completely powerless. But 
the monarchical party was split up into factions, under the 




Cavaignac. 



20 



306 FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 



separate leaders, Barrot, Guizot, and Berryer, and there- 
fore the republic was thought to be safe. By a law passed 
in May, 1849, the right of suffrage had been greatly abridged, 
so as to take away entirely the voice of the poorer class in 
the nation. Yet the republicans, under the lead of Cavaignac, 
Favre, Michel, Lamartine, and Hugo, boldly maintained their 
principles and denounced all violations of the constitution. 

The strife between the government and the legitimatists and 
republicans continued till December, 1851. The tide had 
been setting in favour of the power of Louis Napoleon ; but 
the republicans calculated upon a triumph at the presidential 
election. The government attempted to gain the favour of 
the masses by proposing the repeal of the suffrage law of 
May. But the Assembly refused to agree to this project. 
The only hope for the president then lay in the use of force, 
and his measures were taken accordingly. On the 4th of 
December, 1851, the National Assembly was dissolved, the 
constitution overthrown, the leading opponents of the designs 
of Bonaparte arrested, and a new form of government pro- 
claimed, with the support of three hundred thousand soldiers, 
commanded by General St. Arnaud. The following narrative 
of this coup d'etat is by a member of the Assembly, and was 
contributed to the London Times of December 10. The 
opinions are those of the writer — the facts are unques- 
tionable. 

Louis Napoleon, in order to endeavour to palliate in France 
and abroad the audacious violation of the laws which he has 
just committed, has caused a report to be circulated that he 
only anticipated the hostile measures of the Assembly, lyhich 
was conspiring against himself; and that if he had not struck 
that body, it would have struck him. This sort of defence is 
no novelty to us in France. All our revolutionists have used 
it these sixty years. The members of the Convention, who 
sent each other to the scaffold, invariably treated their adver- 
saries as conspirators. But in the present instance this accu- 
sation, as far as the majority of the Assembly is concerned, 



FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 807 



is •without a pretext, and can only pass current among 
strangers ignorant of the true course of events. 

No doubt history will have weighty charges to bring against 
the Legislative Assembly, which has just been illegally and 
violently dissolved. The parties of which that Assembly was 
composed failed to come to an understanding; this gave to 
the whole body an uncertain and sometimes contradictory 
policy, and finally discredited the Assembly, and rendered it 
incapable of defending either liberty or its own existence. 
History will record thus much ; but history will reject with 
contempt the accusation which Louis Napoleon has preferred 
against us. If you do not believe my assurances, judge at 
least by the facts — not the secret facts which I could disclose 
to you, but the public facts printed in the Moniteur. 

In the month of August last, the Assembly voted the re- 
vision of the constitution by an immense majority. Why was 
the revision of the constitution desired ? ^ Simply to legalize 
the re-election of Louis Napoleon. Was that an act of con- 
spiracy against him? 

The Assembly prorogued itself soon after this vote ; the 
Conseils Gen^raux, convoked immediately afterward, and 
principally consisting of representatives, also expressed an 
almost unanimous desire for the revision of the constitution. 
Was that an act of conspiracy against Louis Napoleon? 

The Assembly met again on the 4th of November. There 
was an electoral law — that of the 31st of May — which the 
great majority of the Assembly had voted. This law was un- 
popular, and to catch the favour of the people, Louis Napo- 
leon, who had been the first to propose and sanction the law 
of the 31st of May the year before, demands its abrogation, 
and proposes another law in a message insulting to the As- 
sembly. The new electoral law proposed by him was, indeed, 
rejected, but by a majority of only two votes ; and immediately 
afterward the chamber proceeded, in order to comply with the 
president's policy, to adopt in another form most of the 
changes he had proposed. Was that an act of conspiracy 
against Louis Napoleon ? 



308 FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 



Shortly afterward, a proposition was made by the questors, 
"to enable us to place the parliament in a state of defence, if 
attacked, and to call troops directly to our assistance. This 
proposition was, as nobody can deny, in strict conformity with 
the constitution, and all that the proposed resolution did was 
to define the means of exercising a power which the Assembly 
incontestably possessed. Nevertheless, from fear of a colli- 
sion with the executive power, the legislature dared not assert 
this incontestable right. The proposition of the questors was 
rejected by a large majority. Was that an act of conspiracy 
against Louis Napoleon? What! the Assembly was con- 
spiring, and it renounced the command of the troops which 
might have defended it, and made them over to the man who 
was compassing its ruin ! And when did these things happen ? 
A fortnight ago. 

Lastly, a bill on the responsibility of the president and the 
different ofiicers of state was sent up to the Assembly by the 
Conseil d'Etat. Observe, that this proposition did not ema- 
nate from the Assembly ; that the Assembly had no right, by 
law, to refuse to entertain it. The bill was, therefore, brought 
up, but the committee to which it was referred showed at once 
that its disposition was conciliatory. The provisions of the 
bill were rendered more mild, and the discussion was to be 
deferred, in order to avoid the displeasure of the executive 
power. Were these the actions of enemies and conspirators ? 
And what was happening in the meanwhile ? All the journals 
notoriously paid by the president, insulted the Assembly day 
by day, in the coarsest manner, threatened it, and tried by 
every means to cover it with unpopularity. 

This is history — the truth of history. The acts of which I 
speak are the last of the National Assembly of France, and 
I defy our adversaries to find any other fact to oppose to 
them. That an Assembly of seven hundred and fifty mem- 
bers may have included in that number certain conspirators, 
it would be absurd to deny. But the manifest truth, proved 
by its acts, is that the majority of this Assembly, instead of 
conspiring against Louis Napoleon, sought for nothing so much 



FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 309 



as to avoid a quarrel witli him ; tliat it carried its moderation 
toward liim to the verge of weakness, and its desire of con- 
ciliation to a degree of pusillanimity. That is the truth. You 
may believe my assertions, for I participated in none of the 
passions of its parties, and I have no reason either to flatter 
or to hate them. 

Let us now proceed to examine what the Assembly did on 
the 2d December ; and here I cease to express any opinion — 
I merely relate, as an actual witness, the things I saw with 
my eyes, and heard with my ears. When the representatives 
of the people learned, on waking that morning, that several 
of their colleagues were arrested, they ran to the Assembly. 
The doors were guarded by the Chasseurs de Vincennes, a 
corps of troops recently returned from Africa, and long ac- 
customed to the violences of Algerine dominion, who, moreover, 
were stimulated by a donation of five francs distributed to 
every soldier who was in Paris that day. The representatives, 
nevertheless, presented themselves to go in, having at their 
head one of their vice-presidents, M. Daru. This gentleman 
was violently struck by the soldiers, and the representatives 
who accompanied him were driven back at the point of the 
bayonet. Three of them, M. de Talbouet, Etienne, and Du- 
pare were slightly wounded. Several others had their clothes 
pierced. Such was the commencement. 

Driven from the doors of the Assembly, the deputies retired 
to the Marie of the 10th arrondissement. They were already 
assembled to the number of about three hundred, when the 
troops arrived, blocked up the approaches, and prevented a 
greater number of the representatives from entering the apart- 
ment, though no one was at that time prevented from leaving 
it. Who, then, were these representatives assembled at the 
Marie of the 10th arrondissement, and what did they do 
there ? Every shade of opinion was represented in this ex- 
temporaneous assembly. But eight-tenths of its members 
belonged to the different conservative parties which had con- 
stituted the majority. This assembly was presided over by 
two of its vice-presidents, M. Vitet, and M. Benoist d'Azy. 



310 FEENCH MOVEMENTS. 



M. Daru was arrested in his own house ; the fourth vice-presi- 
dent, the illustrious General Bedeau, had been seized that 
morning in his bed and handcuflFed like a robber. As for the 
president, M. Dupin, he was absent, which surprised no one, 
as his cowardice was known. Besides its vice-presidents, the 
Assembly was accompanied by its secretaries, its ushers, and 
even its shorthand writer, who will preserve for posterity the 
records of this last and memorable sitting. The Assembly, 
thus constituted, began by voting a decree in the following 
terms : — 

"In pursuance of Article 68 of the Constitution — viz.: the 
president of the republic, the ministers, the agents, and de- 
positaries of public authority are responsible, each in what 
concerns themselves respectively, for all the acts of the go- 
vernment and the administration — any measure by which the 
president of the republic dissolves the National Assembly, 
prorogues it, or places obstacles in the exercise of its powers, 
is a crime of high treason. 

"By this act merely, the president is deprived of all au- 
thority, the citizens are bound to withhold their obedience, 
the executive power passes in full right to the National As- 
sembly. The Judges of the High Court of Justice will meet 
immediately, under pain of forfeiture ; they will convoke the 
juries in the place which they will select, to proceed to the 
judgment of the president and his accomplices; they will 
nominate the magistrates charged to fulfil the duties of public 
ministers. 

"And seeing that the National Assembly is prevented by 
violence from exercising its powers, it decrees as follows j- viz. : 

^^ Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is deprived of all authority as 
president of the republic. The citizens are enjoined to with- 
hold their obedience. The executive power has passed in full 
right to the National Assembly. The judges of the High 
Court of Justice are enjoined to meet immediately, under pain 
of forfeiture, to proceed to the judgment of the president and 
his accomplices ; consequently all the officers and functionaries 
of power and public authority are bound to obey all requisi- 



FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 311 



tions made in the name of the National Assembly, under pain 
of forfeiture and of high treason. 

"Done and decreed unanimously in public sitting, this 2d 
of December, 1851. 

(Signed) Benois D'Azy, President. 

ViTET, Vice-President. 

^ ' I Secretaries." 

Chapot, J 

[Here follow the names of members who signed this decree, 
in alphabetical order, numbering two hundred and thirty, 
which we omit. Among them are many familiar names, in- 
cluding a large portion of the most distinguished members of 
the Assembly. We copy a few of the names, viz. : Messrs. 
De Balzac, Odillon Barrot, Barthelemy St. Hilaire, Bauchard, 
Gustave de Beaumont, Berryer, Bixio, Coquerel, Didier, Du- 
faure, Pascal Duprat, Duvergier de Hauranne, Keratry, 
Lanjuinais, General de Lauriston, General Oudinot, De Reg- 
gio, St. Beauve, General de St. Priest, De Tocqueville, and 
Eugene Sue.] 

All the members- whose names I have here given, were 
arrested. Several others, having left the room after having 
signed, could not be taken. Among these, the best known 
are M. de Tracy, M. de Malleville, Ferdinand de Lasteyrie, 
and General Rulhi^re. 

After having voted this first decree, another was unani- 
mously passed, naming General Oudinot commander of the 
public forces, and M. Tamisier was joined with him as chief 
of the staflF. The choice of these two officers from distinct 
shades of political opinion, showed that the Assembly was 
animated by one common spirit. 

These decrees had scarcely been signed by all the members 
present, and deposited in a place of safety, when a band of 
soldiers, headed by their officers, sword in hand, appeared at 
the door, without, however, daring to enter the apartment. 
The Assembly awaited them in perfect silence. The presi- 
dent alone raised his voice, read the decrees which had just 
been passed to the soldiers, and ordered them to retire. The 



312 FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 



poor fellows, ashamed of the part they were compelled to play, 
hesitated. The officers, pale and undecided, declared they 
should go for further orders. They retired, contenting them- 
selves with blockading the passages leading to the apartment. 
The Assembly, not being able to go out, ordered the windows 
to be opened, and caused the decrees to be read to the people 
and the troops in the street below, especially that decree 
which, in pursuance of the 68th article of the constitution, 
pronounced the deposition and impeachment of Louis Na- 
poleon. 

Soon, however, the soldiers reappeared at the door, pre- 
ceded this time by two Commissaires de Police. These men 
entered the room, and, amid the unbroken silence and total 
immobility of the Assembly, summoned the representatives 
to disperse. The president ordered them to retire them- 
selves. One of the commissaires was agitated, and faltered ; 
the other broke out in invectives. The president said to 
him, " Sir, we are here the lawful authority, and sole repre- 
sentatives of law and of right. We know that we cannot op- 
pose to you material force, but we will only leave this cham- 
ber under constraint. We will not disperse. Seize us, and 
convey us to prison." "All, all," exclaimed the members 
of the Assembly. After much hesitation, the Commissaires 
de Police decided to act. They caused the two presidents 
to be seized by the collar. The whole body then rose, and, 
arm-in-arm, two-and-two, they followed the presidents, who 
were led off. In this order we reached the street, and were 
marched across the city, without knowing whither we were 
going. 

Care had been taken to circulate a report among the crowd 
and the troops that a meeting of Socialist and Red Repub- 
lican deputies had been arrested. But when the people be- 
held, among those who were thus dragged through the mud 
of Paris on foot, like a gang of malefactors, men the most 
illustrious by their talents and their virtues, ex-ministers, 
ex-ambassadors, generals, admirals, great orators, great 
writers, surrounded by the bayonets of the line, a shout was 



FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 313 



raised, "Vive TAssemble^ Nationale!" The representatives 
were attended by these shouts until they reached the barracks 
of the Quai d'Orsay, where they were shut up. Night was 
coming on, and it was wet and cold. Yet the Assembly was 
left two hours in the open air, as if the government did not 
deign to remember its existence. The representatives here 
made their last roll-call in presence of their shorthand writer, 
who had followed them. The number present was two hun- 
dred and eighteen, to whom were added about twenty more 
in the course of the evening, consisting of members who had 
voluntarily caused themselves to be arrested. Almost all 
the men known to France and to Europe, who formed the 
majority of the Legislative Assembly, were gathered together 
in this place. Few were wanting, except those who, like M. 
Mole, had not been suffered to reach their colleagues. There, 
were present, aniong others, the Duke de Broglie, who had 
come, though ill; the father of the house, the venerable 
Keratry, whose physical strength was inferior to his moral 
courage, and whom it was necessary to seat on a straw chair 
in the barrack-yard; Odillon Barrot, Dufaure, Berryer, 
Remusat, Duvergier de Hauranne, Gustavo de Beaumont, de 
Tocqueville, de Falloux, Lanjuinais, Admiral Lane and Ad- 
miral Cecille, Generals Oudinot and Lauriston, the Duke de 
Luynes, the Duke de Montebello ; twelve ex-ministers, nine 
of whom had served under Louis Napoleon himself; eight 
members of the Institute ; all men who had struggled for 
three years to defend society and to resist the demagogic 
faction. 

When two hours had elapsed, this assemblage were driven 
into the barrack-rooms up-stairs, where most of them spent the 
night without fire, and almost without food, stretched upon 
the boards. It only remained to carry off to prison these 
honourable men, guilty of no crime but the defence of the 
laws of their country. For this purpose the most distressing 
and ignominious means were selected. The cellular vans in 
y^hich forcats are conveyed to the hagne were brought up. 
In these vehicles were shut up the men who had served and 



314 FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 



honoured their country, and they were conveyed like three 
hands of criminals, some to the fortress of Mont Valerien, 
some to the Prison Mazas in Paris, and the remainder to 
Vincennes. The indignation of the public compelled the 
government, two days afterward, to release the greater num- 
ber of them ; some are still in confinement, unable to obtain 
either their liberty or their trial. 

The treatment inflicted on the generals arrested on the 
morning of the 2d December, was still more disgraceful. 
Cavaignac, Lamorici^re, Bedeau, Changarnier — the con- 
querors of Africa, were shut up in those infamous cellular 
vans, which are always inconvenient, and become almost in- 
tolerable on a lengthened journey. In this manner they 
were conveyed to Ham — that is, they were made to perform 
upward of a day's journey. Cavaignac, who had saved Paris 
and France in the days of June — Cavaignac, the competitor 
of Louis Napoleon at the last election, shut up for a day 
and a night in the cell of a felon ! I leave it to every honest 
man and every generous heart to comment on such facts. 
Can it be that indignities which surpass the actions of the 
King of Naples find a defender in England ? No ; England 
knows but a small portion of what is taking place. I appeal 
to her better judgment when these facts are known to the 
world. 

Such are the indignities offered to persons. Let me now 
review the series of general crimes. The liberty of the 
press is destroyed to an extent unheard of even in the time 
of the empire. Most of the journals are suppressed, those 
which appear cannot say a word on politics or even publish 
any news. But this is by no means all. The government 
has stuck up a list of persons who are formed into a "Con- 
sultative Committee." Its object is to induce France to be- 
lieve that the executive is not abandoned by every man of 
respectability and consideration among us. More than half 
the persons on this list have refused to belong to the com- 
mission ; most of them regard the insertion of their names 
as dishonour. I may quote among others M. Leon Faucher, 



FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 315 



M. Portalis, first president of the Court of Cassation, and 
the Duke of Albufera, as those best known. Not only does 
the government decline to publish the letters in which these 
gentlemen refuse their consent, but even their names are 
not withdrawn from a list which dishonours them. The 
names are still retained, in spite of their repeated remon- 
strances. A day or two ago, one of them, M. Joseph Perier, 
driven to desperation by this excess of tyi-anny, rushed into 
the street to strike out his own name with his own hands 
from the public placards, taking the passers-by to witness 
that it had been placed there by a lie. 

Such is the state of the public journals. Let us now see 
the condition of personal liberty. I say, again, that personal 
liberty is more trampled on than ever it was in the time of 
the empire. A decree of the new power gives the prefects 
the right to arrest, in their respective departments, whom- 
soever they please; and the prefects, in their turn, send 
blank warrants of arrest, which are literally lettres de cachet, 
to the sous-prefects under their orders. The Provisional 
government of the republic never went so far. Human life 
is as little respected as human liberty. I know that war has 
its dreadful necessities, but the disturbances which have 
recently occurred in Paris have been put down with a bar- 
barity unprecedented in our civil contests ; and when we re- 
member that this torrent of blood has been shed to consum- 
mate the violation of all laws, we cannot but think that sooner 
or later it will fall back upon the heads of those who shed it. 
As for the appeal to the people, to which Louis Napoleon affects 
to submit his claims, never was a more odious mockery offered 
to a nation. The people is called upon to express its opinion, 
yet not only is public discussion suppressed, but even the 
knowledge of facts. The people is asked its opinion, but the 
first measure taken to obtain it is to establish military ter- 
rorism throughout the country, and to threaten with depriva- 
tion every public agent who does not approve in writing what 
has been done. 

Such, sir, is the condition in which we stand. Force over- 



316 PUBNCS MOVEMENTS. 



turning law, trampling on the liberty of the press and of the 
person, deriding the popular will, in whose name the govern- 
ment pretends to act — France torn from the alliance of free 
nations to be yoked to the despotic monarchies of the conti- 
nent — such is the result of this coup d'etat. If the judgment 
of the people of England could approve these military satur- 
nalia, and if the facts I have related, and which I pledge my- 
self are accurately true, did not rouse its censures, I should 
mourn for you and for ourselves, and for the sacred cause of 
legal liberty throughout the world ; for the public opinion of 
England is the grand jury of mankind in the cause of free- 
dom ; and if its verdict were to acquit the oppressor, the op- 
pressed would have no other resource but in God. 

One word more, to record a fact which does honour to the 
magistracy of France, and which will be remembered in its 
annals. The army refused to submit to the decree of the 
captive Assembly impeaching the president of the republic.; 
but the High Court of Justice obeyed it. These five judges, 
sitting in the midst of Paris, enslaved, and in the face of 
martial law, dared to assemble at the Palace of Justice and 
to issue process commencing criminal proceedings against 
Louis Napoleon, charged with high treason by the law, 
though already triumphant in the streets. I subjoin the text 
of this memorable edict : — 

The Sigh Court of Justice. 

Considering the 68th article of the constitution, consider- 
ing that printed placards commencing with the words "the 
President of the Republic," and bearing at the end the sig- 
natures of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, and De Morny, Minis- 
ter of the Interior, which placards announce, among other 
things, the dissolution of the National Assembly, have this 
day been affixed to the walls of Paris : that this fact of the 
dissolution of the Assembly by the president of the republic 
would fall under the case provided for by the 68th article of 
the constitution, and render the convocation of the High 
Court of Justice imperative ; by the terms of that article de- 



FRENCH MOVEMENTS. 317 



clares that the High Court is constituted, and names M. 
Renouard, counsellor of the Court of Cassation, to fill the 
duties of public accuser, and to fill those of grejQfier, M. Ber- 
nard, greflSer in chief of the Court of Cassation ; and to pro- 
ceed further in pursuance of the terms of the said 68th article 
of the constitution, adjourns until to-morrow, the 3d of De- 
cember, at the hour of noon. 

Done and deliberated in the Council Chamber. Present, 
M. Hardouin, president, M. Pataille, M. Moreau, M. de la 
Palme, and M. Cauchy, judges, this 2d day of December, 
1851. 

After this textual extract from the Minutes of the High 
Court of Justice there is the following entry : — 

1. A proces-verhal stating the arrival of a Commissaire de 
Police, who called upon the High Court to separate. 

2. A proces-verhal of a second sitting held on the morrow, 
the 3d day of December, (when the Assembly was in prison,) 
at which M. Renouard accepts the functions of public prose- 
cutor, charged to proceed against Louis Napoleon, after which 
the High Court, being no longer able to sit, adjourned to a 
day to be fixed hereafter. 

The new form of government proclaimed by Louis Na- 
poleon, and sanctioned, as is said, by a majority of over six 
millions of French votes, is an unmitigated despotism. The 
president is to hold his office for ten years. There are two 
legislative bodies— a senate, and a council of deputies ; but 
the president has it in his power to select the members from 
the returned lists, and all laws must be proposed by him. 
The reins are in Bonaparte's hands. Besides, the enormous 
military force frowns down all opposition. Discussion is pro- 
hibited, and there can be no freedom of choice where there is 
no discussion. But five persons, supposed to be inimical 
to Bonaparte's movement, have been chosen to seats in the 
lower legislative body. These will be impotent. 



318 



AFFAIRS IN SPAIN. 




Isabella II. 



CHAPTER IX 

AFFAIRS IN SPAIN— ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE THE QUEEN. 

Spain was quiet during the period wlien the greater part 
of Europe was shaken by revolutionary movements. Her 
people seemed to be perfectly satisfied with the government, 



AFFAIRS IN SPAIN. 319 



or totally unambitious of freedom and power. A liberal 
party has existed in Spain ever since the accession of Ferdi- 
nand VII., and under Eiego and other bold leaders, has 
maintained many a desperate struggle with the adherents of 
despotism. The present government may be said to be 
liberal, compared with that for which the Carlists contended. 
Still there is much, very much, to reform in Spain ; and it is 
surprising that the liberals remained quiet, when the French, 
Italians, and Germans, were in successful rebellion. 

A late event, which threw the kingdom into commotion, 
caused some developments in regard to the state of affairs in 
Spain. This was an attempt to assassinate Queen Isabella 
II. On the 4th of February, 1852, during the royal au- 
dience, the assassin, Martin Merino, approached the queen, 
and knelt down, as if to present a memorial. He was at- 
tired in clerical robes, and no one suspected his evil inten- 
tions. When near enough he suddenly struck at the queen 
with great force, with a dagger which he had before kept con- 
cealed. Isabella had put forward her arm, perhaps to re- 
ceive a memorial, and this act saved her life. The weapon 
grazed her forearm, and striking her on the front part of the 
right side, penetrated through several folds of her mantle 
of velvet and gold, cut through the stays, the whalebone of 
which diminished the effect of the blow, and made a slight 
wound, just escaping the liver. At the moment of striking, 
the assassin exclaimed—" Toma, ya tienes bastante !" (" Take 
it; you have now got enough.") The queen's, first thought 
was for her child. "Mi nina!" she exclaimed. "Que 
cinden a Isabel." (" My child !— let them take care of Isabel.") 
Confusion ensued. The king consort drew his sword. One 
of the royal halberdiers struck down the assassin, who let 
fall the dagger and was secured by the Duke of Tamames, 
and other members of the royal suite. The queen was able 
to walk to her chamber, where she fainted. But the best 
attendance was immediately secured, and her majesty gradu- 
ally recovered from the effects of the wound. 

Martin Merino, who made this bold attempt at assassina- 



320 



AFFAIKS IN SPAIN. 




Spaniards. 



tion, was a native of Arnedo, in the province of Logrone, 
sixty-three years of age, an ex-friar of the Fransiscan order, 
secularized, on his own application, in 1821. The Grctceta 
Militar describes him as an enthusiastic Carlist, and says 
that he emigrated as an anti-liberal between 1820 and '23 ; 
that he served as a captain in the Carlist army during the 
civil war, and came in under the convention of Bergara. 
That he was engaged in an attempt against the life of Queen 
Christiana during her regency, but failed to find an oppor- 
tunity for carrying his project into ejjecution ; and that he 
had been acting as an assistant curate at Madrid, in the 
parishes of San Sebastian and San Migan. After the attempt 
upon the life of Queen Isabella, Merino was removed in a 
coach to the Saladero prison. The cavalry escort is said to 
have had some difficulty in preventing the crowd around the 



AFFAIRS IN SPAIN. • 321 



palace from dealing summary justice upon Mm. The old 
partisan feeling was revived— 'the assassin was believed to 
have been instigated by the Carlists. Merino continued per- 
fectly cool, and evinced no "compunctious visitings" for his 
act. His only inquiry was, "Is the queen dead?" And 
when told that she was not, he expressed surprise, and said 
that he had hit her hard enough. At other times, he was 
very abusive to those who spoke to him ; but in general he 
preserved a cold, sneering manner. He had performed mass 
at 11 o'clock on the morning of the day on which he made 
the attempt at assassination. He was executed by the garotte 
on the 7th of February, dying calmly, and without confessing 
who or what had instigated the commission of the crime. 

In Spain, parties are not content with a fair and open contest, 
but all deadly and mysterious means are employed to eflfect 
the overthrow of rivals. The remnant of the Oarlist party 
have not been, nor cannot be, trusted, in word or deed, by 
the triumphant partisans of Isabella. Intrigues, plots, as- 
sassinations and petty squabbles make up the every-day life 
of the courtiers and the nobility in general. 

Two attempts have been made, by expeditions from the 
United States, to wrest the valuable island of Cuba from the 
Spanish crown. But the people were loyal. The invaders 
were defeated and dispersed. General Lopez, the commander 
of both expeditions, with fifty-two of his men, were captured 
and shot. Cuba, alone of all the Spanish possessions in 
America and the West Indies, remains true to her old alle- 
giance. But the eyes of the citizens of the great North 
American republic have been fixed upon the island, and how 
long it may elude their grasp cannot be determined. 



322 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OV EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 




CHAPTER X. 



THE PRESENT ATTITUDE OF THE KINGS AND PEOPLE OF EUROPE. 

At the present time, the continent of Europe is over- 
shadowed by a despotism more Upas-like and gloomy than 
the history of the Middle Ages can parallel. The freedom of 
speech, and all the means for the development of the mental 
might of nations, are set up to be mocked and jeered. 
Monarchs, upheld upon their thrones by those devouring lo- 
custs, enormous standing armies, boldly and fearlessly main- 
tain the principle of "divine right" — the divine right to 
crush to the dust their fellow men; and the masses are 
threatened into silence. 

No FAITH WITH SUBJECTS — is the royal maxim now made 
but too familiar to the mind of Europe. It will be remem- 
bered when the next turn of the wheel shall give subjects 
their power over sovereigns. All hope of constitutionalism 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 323 



for the chief monarchies of the continent may be said to 
have come to an end — that is, all hope of preserving those 
monarchies by allying them with popular instiioutions, has 
become manifestly vain. Every such adjustment — every such 
constituting of things, supposes mutual trust, and mutual 
trust is gone. One stipulation deemed strictly necessary in 
such monarchies is, that the king, if he be an hereditary 
king, should have the command of the army ; and will the 
injured people of the continent ever dispose of that power 
after the same manner again, if it should once more come 
into their hands ? It is by their care to save monarchy, that 
those communities have all but destroyed themselves. We 
venture to predict that they will give little sign of such care 
in the time to come. The absolutists know this full well, and 
they are taking their measures accordingly. They have now 
the command of their armies, they have resolved to do their 
best to keep possession of that power, and they have staked 
every thing on the desperate chance of being able to rule 
purely by the sword. All the social and mental degradation, 
and all the corruptness both in morals and religion, which a 
thorough military despotism has ever entailed, are to be 
diffused, and, as far as possible, made hereditary among some 
three-fourths of the people of Europe ! Even more ; as is 
the hatred of all such rule among the people who are to be 
made subject to it, so, as we have said, must be the strength 
and mercilessness of this power if it is to retain its ascend- 
ency. To be successful, it must be a more awful embodiment 
of evil than history has hitherto recorded. Happily, we see 
nothing in the capacities of the men who have given them- 
selves to this enterprise to warrant us in supposing that they 
will be successful. This grand conspiracy of princes against 
peoples, of monarchs against men, will explode, and those 
who have committed themselves to it will probably perish in 
its ruins. But with this probability before us, we feel dis- 
posed to look a little beyond it, and to ask ourselves what is 
likely to come next ? — what in the condition of the conti- 
nental states is the most to be desired as coming next ? 



324 PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 



The common notion that constitutionalism is what the 
situation of the European states demands, is an error which 
proved deadly to liberal anticipations in 1848. In Germany 
particularly, constitutionalism cannot be harmonized with the 
existing dynastic government. The reasons we shall proceed 
to show. Prussia is regarded as the archetype of a German 
monarchy ; but Prussia is altogether a product of family am- 
bition. No reason whatever can be assigned for joining its 
several parts together, except that it was regarded as for the 
interest of the Hohenzollern family that it should so be. 
Prussia exists, accordingly, as Prussia, purely for the sake 
of its princes — that its resources may be conveniently at 
their disposal. With all that it includes, Prussia is still the 
smallest of the European monarchies pretending to an inde- 
pendent international policy ; and is in a position, moreover, 
very unfavourable to its acting on such a policy. These 
pressing exigencies have rendered it indispensable, if the 
dynastic interest is to be sustained in Prussia, that the pro- 
perties and lives of all the members of the community should 
be placed at the absolute service of that interest. 

That man is born to be a royal functionary, is a radical 
principle in the Prussian state. In so far as he is successful 
in this direction, he realizes his proper destination. It is 
well known, also, that by the wisdom and generosity of the 
Prussian government, it is provided that every man shall 
participate in a measure, and for a season, in this proper end 
of his being, by becoming a soldier, and by being liable to be 
called out in that capacity at the pleasure of the sovereign, 
so long as he may be deemed capable of service. But-this 
military service, as may be supposed, is not the form of ser- 
vice to which the passion for place, so common among Prus- 
sians, most earnestly aspires. In that colintry, the poorest 
man will subject himself and his family to the severest priva- 
tions, that he may secure to his son a university education, 
in the hope that one day he will become something, and to 
become something, in the language of Prussia — indeed, in 
the language of all Germany — is to rise to a government ap- 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 325 



pointment. The idea that to succeed in this way is to suc- 
ceed in the way most honourable to a rational being, is so 
deeply rooted in the German mind, that not to have attained 
to title and office is a defect hardly to be compensated by 
birth, wealth, or even genius. Let a man become rich by his 
industry, famous by his talent, he will still covet, if he be a 
true German, the honorary title of a commercial or an aulio 
counsellor. Thus admitted into the functionary world, his 
existence is duly legalized. It is due also to this functionary 
world to state, that whenever a man rises above the common 
level, he is sure to be taken into the guild of functionaries by 
means of some title, if not by means of office. That no man 
of status, in any way, may be without this badge of relation- 
ship and dependence, various orders of knighthood have been 
instituted, and every year numberless pieces of ribbon, of 
various hues and dignity, are scattered profusely a.broad, so 
that it has come to be a common saying, that in Prussia there 
are two things which a man must not hope to escape — death, 
and the order of the red eagle. By such means the govern- 
ment has succeeded in drawing the substance of the middle 
classes as it were into itself ; much as it succeeded in former 
times in bringing the nobility into a condition of abject ser- 
vitude. The monarchy is the central power which for ages 
has been not only attracting every thing in this manner to 
its own centre, but absorbing every thing there. That the 
government may possess the power necessary to such a policy, 
it not only has the police and the judicial departments at its 
disposal, but extends its authority and patronage to the ec- 
clesiastical, the educational, the artistic, the scientific, the 
medical, in all of which the chief appointments come from 
this centre, and the pay from this centre. 

The extent to which the independent spirit of the middle 
classes is impaired and consumed by this base contrivance, 
may be inferred from the fact, that there is scarcely a stu- 
dent who does not go to the university with the avowed pur- 
pose of qualifying himself to obtain some government ap- 
pointment ; and that there is rarely a man of any pretension 



t 
326 PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 



to respectability who does not send one or all of his sons to 
prosecute such studies in such hope — to give themselves to 
honest industry, being to lose caste, in comparison with be- 
coming a government functionary. 

Now a German House of Commons, inasmuch as it would 
be impossible to exclude from it the most influential and in- 
telligent portion of the middle classes, would of necessity 
include a large majority of functionaries — or of persons re- 
ceiving pay from the government, and reckoned in that cate- 
gory — such as counsellors, judges, barristers, professors in 
universities or in gymnasia, and officers of the revenue. In- 
deed, if we take into our account all persons belonging to 
military or official families, we doubt much, if in a German 
House of Commons, you would not have to pass by bench 
after bench to find a solitary member whose position in life 
could be said to be without any dependence on the govern- 
ment, so as to be compatible with an unbiased course of ut- 
terance and action. 

If it be indispensable, accordingly, to a constitutional 
government, that there should be a jealous separation be- 
tween the legislative power and the executive, how could that 
be possible in states, where the chambers would be called to- 
gether only to transfer the discussions proper to them as 
public servants, from the board of green cloth to the salle 
des deputes ! If constitutionalism consists in the balancings 
of three powers, how could it be established in a state where 
two of the three are wanting ? If it be described as the best 
form of self-government, how may that be carried on through 
the medium of assemblies made up so largely of men depend- 
ent on the public purse ? And if in every such adjustment 
there must be a careful separation between the legislative 
and the executive, how would that be possible through the 
medium of conventions in which the great majority who make 
the laws would consist of persons in the pay of the govern- 
ment ? By this time our reader will begin to see what the 
working of the Prussian monarchy has been, and will begin 
to wish, if we mistake not, that its days may be numbered. 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 327 



At present, Prussia is made for its king — the king is not 
made for Prussia. The state is what it is, simply that the 
king may be what he is. In that land, the end of all things 
is the elevation of a house, not the elevation of a people. 
It is a state in which every thing institutional is constructed 
and worked so as to exhaust public spirit, and to place the 
men and the means of all families, at the disposal of one 
family. 

If there be apparent exceptions to the above statement, 
they are only apparent. Attempts to do something in the 
way of constitutionalism, on a small scale, are not unknown 
among the Germans ; but there has been a want of nature 
and sincerity in such appearances. There are reasons which 
may dispose princes, though great lovers of absolutism, to 
give their sanction to some puerile imitations of constitution- 
alism. Princes, in some of the smaller states, have so done, 
in the hope of placing a check by such means, on the ambi- 
tion of the greater — especially on Austria and Prussia. To 
the overwhelming material force of those great powers, they 
have sometimes opposed the threat of an alliance with popu- 
lar disaffection at home, and with liberal principles abroad. 
Late events, however, have shown that these petty princes, 
when such an alternative is really before them, will be sure 
to prefer that their principalities should pass under the yoke 
of Prussia or Austria, than that they should be permanently 
governed by means of really liberal institutions. For rea- 
sons very similar to those which have disposed the smaller 
states toward this sham constitutionalism, Prussia has had 
her seasons of flirtation with all existing varieties of liberal- 
ism. In this manner she has endeavoured to turn the scale 
of popularity in her favour when opposed by the rivalries of 
Russia, Austria, France, and the smaller principalities. 

Convinced, as we are, that any political system which, in 
its working, must be hostile to the particular interests of the 
men who have to work it, is a monstrosity, we feel that con- 
stitutionalism, and the present dynastic functionaryism, of 
Germany, can never work together. In such a state of 



328 PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 



society constitutionalism must be a sham — a pernicious sham. 
All who meddle with it are in danger of being damaged by so 
doing. Its eflfect upon the people must be to divert their 
energies into a wrong channel, and to augment the host of 
difficulties which in any course must press upon them. See- 
ing those who should be their leaders given up to abstractions, 
carried away by conceits, and skilful in inventing smooth 
names and hollow pretexts, in the hope of realizing only so 
much of change as may be consonant with their own interests, 
what marvel if the bitterness of disappointment, and the 
presence of fear, should prepare them for giving ear to despe- 
rate projects, and for putting themselves under some extrava- 
gant guidance. Such must ever be the result of placing men 
in positions thus false ; and such has been the result of at- 
tempting to save continental royalty by allying it with popu- 
lar institutions in the manner required by what is called con- 
stitutionalism. Dynastic organization of this complexion 
and free institutions cannot be worked harmoniously. It is 
to attempt a mixture of the iron and the clay. 

The founding of the Prussian monarchy was a purely 
money affair, conducted in the spirit of a pawnbroker. The 
Emperor Sigismund of Germany, being unable to redeem the 
margravedom of Bradenburgh from the ancestor of the pre- 
sent dynasty, to whom it had been pledged for a sum of 
money, scarcely more than would suffice now-a-days to pur- 
chase a very small estate, the land and the people of Bran- 
denburgh passed into the hands by which they have been 
since retained. In this proceeding, the people, as a matter 
of course, were expected to be as passive as quadrupeds, and 
they appear to have been so. Part of Prussia Proper'and 
Pomerania, devolved on the house of Hohenzollern by virtue 
of a family compact. Keeping in remembrance how this 
transfer of provinces and people from han^ to hand has been 
sanctioned by Em-opean diplomacy and European law — 
species of slave-trade though it be — the acquisition of these 
two provinces may be regarded as the least censurable of 
all the measures by which the patchwork of the Prussian 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OP EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 329 



monarchy has been brought together. The province of 
Silesia was the pre-selected booty of a war undertaken to 
secure it. The grand duchy of Posen, and the other parts 
of Prussia Proper, were the Prussian share of the spoil ob- 
tained on the partition of Poland — an event which has ac- 
quired an exceptional notoriety purely from the fact that the 
Poles bravely resisted the sort of wrong to which other people, 
more in the manner of the times, silently submitted. Almost 
all the remaining territory of Prussia, comprising the Saxon 
and Rhenish provinces, was assigned to that state by a diplo- 
matic convention in a manner which, keeping in view its time 
and its circumstances, exhibited a more wilful and flagrant 
violation of popular rights than any of the measures of this 
description which had preceded it. For the people whom 
the diplomatists at the Congress of Vienna presumed to dis- 
pose of after this fashion, were not only the people whose 
valour had delivered the territories in question from the foot 
of the invader, but they were the people who had done that 
thing upon express stipulation that they should never again 
be assigned to the charge of authority of any kind without 
their consent. The diplomatists did not wait for that con- 
sent ; and the crowned traitors who profited by that haste, 
ruled over them until 1848, in apparent utter forgetfulness 
of the vows that were upon them. Thus Germany, and the 
greater part of Europe, were parcelled out a second time, at 
the close of a great war, according to the power or policy of 
a few subtle and selfish men, who chanced to be uppermost, 
very much as they had been some two centuries before. 

It will be seen from these observations that we regard the 
foundations of some of the continental monarchies as being 
of a very peaceable description. If the professors of consti- 
tutionalism in the Prussian chambers must remind us of the 
rights of the crown, we challenge the production of all char- 
ters in favour of those rights. Where are they ? Nearly all 
the provinces of that monarchy belong to it as the result of 
processes in which subtlety has prevailed over simplicity, or 
might over right. In all instances the people have been 



330 PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 



handed over with the soil, as the chance of the game, whether 
played in the cabinet or the field, may have determined. 
These facts will account for the contempt with which the 
King of Prussia is disposed to speak of " pieces of paper with 
letters scribbled thereon" — meaning thereby such papers as 
he would be only too happy to produce in support of his roy- 
alties, if they had ever existed ; and such, also, as contain 
stipulated rights on behalf of the people, which it would be 
pleasant to him to regard as wholly extinct and forgotten. 
The bare enumeration of the titles of the many duchies, pro- 
vinces, districts, great and small, which have come to con- 
stitute this monarchy, is enough to suggest that the course 
of things in this respect must have been any thing but na- 
tural. 

Nor has it taken a very long time to bring these appropriat- 
ing influences to bear on so many places and communities. 
Nearly half this ill-gotten wealth was allotted to the Hohen- 
zollern family so late as the year 1815, and by far the greater 
portion of the other half was in the hands of other families 
not more than a century since. The many people, who within 
so short an interval have been compelled to abjure one alle- 
giance and adopt another, at the peril of being deemed trai- 
tors, and punished as such, do not forget what has happened, 
though it may be convenient to some other parties that they 
should so do. Loyalty in such cases, if it exist at all, must 
be devoid of all intelligence and nobleness — a mere instinct, 
rising hardly higher than the fidelity of a dog to his master. 
Prussia and Austria owe their existence purely to function- 
aryism, civil or military. Apart from the interested fidelity 
of the oflficers in the army, and the almost endless gradation 
of placemen, from the village schoolmaster upward, they 
would drop to pieces. The day in which the will of the dis- 
interested and the patriotic should become ascendant, would 
be the day of their death-knell. 

In 1848 the constitutionalists had to choose between a bias on 
the side of republicanism or of njonarchy, and they chose the 
latter. By their assistance, the princes succeeded in reviving 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUKOPEAN AFFAIRS. 331 



the military and bureaucratic spirit, and that done, all things 
returned fast toward their old level. The different powers 
pledged themselves to the help of each other in their common 
difficulties ; armies surrounded the capitals where the cham- 
bers supposed to represent the people were assembled ; agents 
of the different governments stimulated the people to some 
excesses, and thus furnished a pretext for the summary course 
desired — viz., that of martial law. When the agens provoca- 
teurs did not succeed in producing the convenient amount of 
disorder, the prince fled in professed apprehension of it, and 
in the hope that attempts, would be made to set up a republic 
— an event which it was calculated would bring back the 
more moderate and influential portions of the community to 
the side of the monarchy. But in no case did the people 
commit themselves to purely republican institutions. Never- 
theless, the bare fact that they had put their prince into 
bodily fear — or that they were charged with having so done 
— and had thus forced him to leave his capital, was construed 
as enough to warrant the intervention of the allies for the 
purpose of restoring all things to a state of order, according 
to the old ideas on that subject. 

In this manner absolutism has been re-established in Prus- 
sia, Austria, Saxony, Baden, Hesse-Cassel, and elsewhere. 
Twice Vienna might have been saved, had not the wish to 
perpetuate constitutional principles in the future government 
intervened to prevent it. The first of these occasions was 
when Windischgratz had not as yet gathered his forces, and 
when he might have been precluded from so doing, if the diet 
had proceeded at once to an organization of the peasantry, 
who were everywhere ready to obey the first call. The second 
instance was when the diet declined the proffered assistance 
of the Hungarian army, and did not authorize it to enter the 
German territory. Had the wisdom and promptitude de- 
manded by the exigency been present at either of these junc- 
tures, we think it probable that Vienna would not have been 
taken ; that modern history would not have been stained 
with the atrocities, rare even among savage nations, that 



332 PRESENT ATTITUDE OP EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 



were there perpetrated ; and that Hungary would not have 
fallen. 

In Berlin, the chambers being well up in their constitu- 
tional catechism, allowed themselves to be dissolved, re-elected, 
purified, ambulated, once and again, all in the most scrupu- 
lous conformity with the maxim that patience and constitu- 
tional principles will do every thing. Some complaint, in- 
deed, did arise, but it was of little worth or consistency, 
inasmuch as the plaintiffs had given the king full power to do 
all that he did. 

Our conclusion from this series of instructive facts is, that 
the power of continental royalty, which has proved too strong 
for constitutionalism during the recent changes, is likely to 
prove too strong for it in any change yet to come. The 
choice of the people in these countries, accordingly, lies be- 
tween submitting as heretofore — in truth, more abjectly than 
heretofore — to the power of their princes ; and the use of 
some means for their deliverance from that power, possessing 
more aptness to meet the necessities of the case than the con- 
stitutional theories in which they have been hitherto so much 
disposed to confide. 

Now it is worthy of note that this is the conclusion to 
which the instincts of the German people had in a great mea- 
sure conducted them before the year 1848. It is a remark- 
able fact, that whenever the wave of public feeling runs high 
in Germany, the idea that comes floating upward again and 
again is that of the unity of the whole German fatherland. 
The language of the constitutional speculators has been — get 
liberal institutions in each state, and dream not of any_ thing 
so vast as the creation of a new empire. The language of 
the popular instinct, on the other hand, truer to nature, has 
been, the liberal institutions you seek cannot be realized, ex- 
cept as the dynastic policy so utterly incompatible with them 
shall be made to give place to a more natural policy — in a 
word, except as a care about the artificial elevation of families 
shall give place to a care about the natural distinction of 
races. The so-called rights of thrones must submit before 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OP EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 333 



the inalienable rights of nationalities. This feeling points 
to the only sort of confederation promising to be powerful 
enough to rescue the continent from the monarchial tyran- 
nies now ascendant there. The unity of Germany on the 
basis of nationality, would absorb or extinguish the dynasties 
of Prussia and Austria, and would be the signal for a similar 
emancipation of the Poles, Hungarians, Italians, and of all 
people now groaning under the sway of alien powers, instead 
of being left to become themselves powers. What diplomacy 
and the sword, working against nature, have hitherto kept 
together, would thus be dissolved, and the vocation of both, 
as we can fully believe, would be to a larger extent super- 
seded. 

But if this be the kind of change which can alone open 
to Europe the prospect of regeneration, can it surprise us 
that the chances of a few months in 1848 did not prove equal 
to the realization of such a new order of affairs ? This change 
involves something more than a nice adjustment of relations 
between kings, nobles, and commoners. It embraces a recon- 
struction of Europe, and a settlement of some very old ac- 
counts between nations and nations, between races and races, 
and between religions and religions. The differences and 
convulsions that come up from these sources are ceaseless, 
and must be, so long as the present system shall last. We 
are not insensible to the difficulties connected with this ques- 
tion ; we do not mean to conceal them ; our only regret is, 
that we cannot in this place deal with them at all in the ex- 
tent necessary to completeness. 

First, with regard to this German unity, if it mean any 
thing, it must mean, at the least, the gradual diminution and 
final absorption of the several independent sovereignties and 
dynasties. The German princes, under the promptings of 
the law of self-preservation, saw this from the beginning — 
much more clearly than the constitutional party, who had 
honestly persuaded themselves that it would be possible to 
combine sovereignty in a variety of states, with the subjec- 
tion of the whole to a strong central power, that power being 



334 PRESENT ATTITUDE OP EUROPEAN APFAIRS. 



SO constructed as to be favourable to general liberty. When 
at last they saw this scheme to be impracticable, they oflFered 
Germany to the King of Prussia. But had the King accepted 
it, the other German sovereigns would have thrown them- 
selves into the arms of France, Russia, or England, and his 
majesty of Prussia could have maintained his position only 
by placing himself at the head of a European rievolution. 
For such a responsibility he was far from being qualified, 
either by inclination or capacity. 

Austria and Prussia would very willingly appropriate to 
themselves the rest of the German sovereignties ; but their 
policy is to aim at this object by means of all sorts of family 
contracts, military conventions, commercial leagues, and 
political unions. Diplomatic artifice is confided in as a safer 
agency than the sword. Prussia owes nearly every thing to 
a game of this sort. Since the founding of that kingdom, the 
history of Germany has consisted very largely in the endea- 
vours of the two great powers to gain an exclusive ascendency 
over the smaller states ; in the resistance of the smaller sove- 
reignties to this policy ; in the meddlings of the other Euro- 
pean powers with this state of things, in the hope of turning 
it to their advantage ; and in the gradually increasing disaf- 
fection of the people, from finding themselves made the ever- 
lasting tools of family ambition or foreign selfishness. The 
smaller states may be seen allying themselves with French 
liberalism or Russian despotism, as may best contribute to 
secure them against the encroachments of powers nearer 
home. Russia is much less interested in the triumph of ab- 
solutism in Germany, than in the maintenance of this en- 
tangled state of things, which, as it occupies and consumes 
the forces of Europe, is regarded as preparing the way for 
Slavic ascendency. Princely professions of sympathy with 
liberalism, are well understood by such diplomatists as Met- 
ternich and ISTesselrode. So long as liberalism is under check 
from a sovereign, it is known to be comparatively harmless ; 
but let the will of the people become stronger in relation to 
it than the will of the prince, and it is at once voted as a 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OP EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 335 



nuisance, and put down, if not by the prince himself, by so 
much of foreign intervention as may be necessary for that 
purpose. So long as the prince has his uses to make of it, 
it may be borne with, but let the people attempt to turn it to 
some higher account, and its days are numbered. 

Nothing can be more ambiguous in this respect than the 
position of Prussia. Besides being the smallest of the Euro- 
pean powers pretending to an independent political action, 
her possessions lie scattered over a disproportionably wide 
extent, and are divided moreover by an intervening tract of 
land, which, as late events have, shown, may at any time be 
seized by an enem.y. Prussia, cut up thus through the mid- 
dle, has to defend herself against the three most powerful 
states of Europe — against Austria, her arch-enemy, on the 
south ; against France, the most unsettled and w;arlike of na- 
tions, on the west ; and against Russia, bordering on her open 
frontier in the east. Among all the provinces included in 
this political card-castle, there are two only — Brandenburgh, 
East Prussia and part of Pomerania, that do not remember 
and regret the time when made to become parts of it. The 
Rhenish provinces, being Catholic, and having retained the 
Code Napoleon from the times of the French occupation, 
have a strong bias toward France, and France is not the less 
disposed to look with some longing toward them. The Poles 
subject to Prussia have always regarded their connection 
with it as provisional ; and, for reasons which will presently 
be stated, are directly interested in its extinction, not to 
mention their having been irreconcilably exasperated by the 
cruelties of the Prussian generals, Colomb and Steinacker, in 
1848. None of these provinces, with the exception of the 
two or three first named, know why they should belong to 
Prussia more than to any other state, or why the Prussian 
state should exist at all. But they all know full well that 
they are Germans, and, the greater part of them, that they 
are Protestants. It is for the reasons indicated in these 
facts, that the King of Prussia is obliged to flatter the spirit 
of German nationalism, and of Protestant enlightenment; 



336 PRESENT ATTITUDE OF ETJROPEAN AFFAIRS. 



while, for reasons also indicated, he must not be expected to 
attempt any realization of the idea of German unity. Kor 
must he be expected to encourage a Protestant enlightenment 
of thought in relation to politics. What is called Prussia is 
a military and bureaucratic system, so spread over varieties 
of people as to draw off the power and substance of them all 
for its own maintenance and growth. To cede to these 
peoples independence, would be to assent to its own de- 
struction. Placed by the nature of its origin between Ger- 
man patriotism and dynastic interest — between freedom of 
thought and military and bureaucratic absolutism, Prussia 
has calculated that the only means of existence open to her, 
is to practice a systematic deception on the spirit of her own 
subjects, by throwing over a power in reality absolute, some 
of the appearances of intellectual freedom. 

The Austrian monarchy is incompatible with any thing 
like the principles of free government. It has its root in 
oppression, and therefore its destruction is necessary to 
liberty. In times of danger, Austria arms race against race, 
and when that cloud is past, throws all to the dust. 

So much for the powers which fill the centre of Europe. 
Whether the great truth that the destruction of the present 
dynastic system is the first sure step to real freedom is ap- 
preciated by the people of Germany, we cannot determine. 
But it is certain that until they do appreciate and act upon 
it, their risings will be vain expenditures of blood and trea- 
sure, and their golden dreams unrealized. 

Let us turn to Italy. 

It is not to be denied that the character of the Italians 
stands far higher in the eyes of Europe than it did before 
1848. The various nations of the Peninsula came out of 
that fierce ordeal with a reputation for bravery, for sustained 
enthusiasm, for pure devoted patriotism, for capacity of self- 
government, such as they never before enjoyed. Their con- 
duct in 1848 was of a nature to redeem all their previous 
failures and miserable exhibitions. It is true that the Lom- 
bards, whatever be the true explanation of their supineness, 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 337 



did nothing to fulfill the promise of their first brilliant exploit. 
It is true that the Sicilians, by a strange fatality of mis- 
management, lost all the liberty for which they had fought 
so ably and so gallantly, and which they had so nearly won. 
Still, the expulsion of Radetsky, and the entire defeat of 
Ferdinand, showed capacities for which neither Milan nor 
Palermo could have previously gained credit. Both the 
Piedmontese regulars and the Roman and Tuscan volunteers 
distinguished themselves by a steady and determined courage, 
on numerous occasions, which the soldiers of no country could 
surpass. But it was at Rome and Venice that the Italian 
nation won her spurs, and made good her claim to join the 
communion of the noble and free states of the earth. In the 
former city, when the pope had fled, the republicans orga- 
nized a government which for five months preserved order 
throughout the land, such as Romagna had not known for 
generations, with no bloodshed, and scarcely any imprison- 
ment or exile ; indeed, with a marvellous scantiness of pun- 
ishment of any kind. While, during nearly the whole of this 
period, Rome, with fourteen thousand improvised troops, made 
good her defence against thirty thousand French, supplied 
with the best artillery, and commanded by experienced 
generals, and Garibaldi drove the invading army of Naples 
before him like frightened sheep. With such means and 
against such antagonists it was impossible to have done more : 
in the face of such hopeless odds few people and few cities 
would have done as much. For a space of time yet longer, 
Venice, under the elected dictatorship of one man, put for- 
ward energies and displayed virtues which were little expected 
from the most pleasure-loving and sybaritic city of the world. 
The wealthy brought their stores, the dissolute shook ofi" their 
luxury, the efieminate braced themselves to hardship and 
exertion, and, without assistance or allies, these heroic citi- 
zens kept at bay for many months the whole force of the 
Austrian Empire, and at last obtained liberal and honourable 
terms. After two such examples as these, the Italians can 
never again be despised as incapable and cowardly, or pro- 

23 



838 PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 



nounced unfit for the freedom they had seized so gallantly 
and wielded so well. The comparison of 1848 with 1821 
indicates a whole century of progress; and makes us con- 
fident, in spite of the cloudy and impenetrable present, that 
the day of the final emancipation of Italy must be near at 
hand. 

Then Italy and Hungary have shown themselves rich in 
men not unequal to or unworthy of the crisis. Men have 
sprung up as they were wanted, and such as were wanted. 
Hungary has produced Kossuth, a writer and a statesman, 
fitted for any station, "equal to either fortune," revered, 
loved, and almost worshipped by his countrymen, in despite 
of that failure generally so fatal to all popular idols. In 
Italy — not to speak of Balbo, Capponi, and other less known 
names — three men of tried capacities and characters have 
appeared, and made good their claim to be leaders and orga- 
nizers of Italian independence, Azeglio, Mazzini, and Manin. 
As patriotic writer, as gallant soldier, as prime minister of a 
constitutional kingdom, the first of these has shown his de- 
votion to Italy and his ability to serve her; and, both as 
virtual ruler of Piedmont, and head of the moderate party, 
is probably now the most essential man in the Peninsula. 
Mazzini, who previously had been regarded as merely an im- 
practicable, fanatical enthusiast, displayed, as chief of the 
Roman Triumvirate, capacity both for administration and 
for war, which mark him as the future statesman of Rome, 
when Rome shall again be in her own hands; while Manin, 
who, as far as we are aware, was wholly unknown to fame, 
appeared at the critical moment when the fate of Venice 
hung in the balance, gifted with the precise qualities de- 
manded by the emergency. When Italy shall be free, we 
need not fear any lack of men competent to guide her 
destinies. 

In Lombardy, the cause of independence was lost from 
causes which had no relation to its intrinsic strength. There 
can, we think, be little doubt that the people who, by no 
sudden surprise, but by five days' hard and sustained fighting, 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 339 



had driven the ablest warrior and the picked soldiers of 
Austria out of Milan and to the borders of the Alps, would, 
if left to themselves, have completed their victory and made 
good their ground. But it is impossible to read Mazzini's 
and Mariotti's account of the war, without admitting that 
the cause never had fair play from the beginning. Charles 
Albert joined the Lombards from pure dread of a republic 
so near him being followed by a republic in his own terri- 
tories ; he fought, therefore, gallantly and well, but he fought 
for his personal ambition, and to prevent the Lombard repub- 
licans from fighting, and his great anxiety throughout was to 
gain the campaign without their aid. The republicans, on 
the other hand, mistrusted the king, and were little disposed 
to shed their blood for the aggrandizement of a dynasty which 
they had little reason to respect or love ; and thus the real 
cause of Italian independence was compromised and paralyzed 
at the very outset by mutual and well-grounded mistrust.* 
Still enough remains, and enough was done, to show what 
might have been done, what may be done again, if either the 
monarchical party would abstain from encumbering the repub- 
licans with aid, or if a monarch would arise whom even the 
republicans would fight for, and could trust. Enough was 
done to show how simple the condition, and how practicable 
the combinations by which the battle may be won. 

In Rome, too, when the people and their sovereign were 
pitted singly against each other, the victory was not a mo- 
ment doubtful. The pope was powerless — the people were 
omnipotent; and this, though they, a Catholic and super- 
stitious people, had to fight against spiritual terrors as well 
as temporal arms. The pope fled, and was not missed. His 
return was, indeed, formally asked for; but a republic was 
organized without him, and, for the first time, the Romans 

* One of the most melancholy features of Mazzini's history is the 
mistrust, and even hatred, he displays toward the moderate party, ■whose 
sincerity and capacity he seems entirely unable to admit. It is an ill 
omen for the Italian cause when a man like Mazzini is unable to appreciate 
a man like Azeglio. 



340 PRESENT ATTITUDE OP EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 



had a glimpse of what good government might be. It was 
reserved for a foreign, a friendly, and a republican govern- 
ment again to interfere,. and deprive a people of the oppor- 
tunity of showing how well they could use, and how well they 
had deserved, their freedom. France, which had just chased 
away their own sovereign, which had just established her own 
republic, which had just proclaimed the inalienable right of 
every nation to choose its own rulers, and work out its own 
emancipation — France was not ashamed to interfere to crush 
a sister democracy, on the most flimsy, transparent, and 
inadequate pretext ever urged to palliate a flagrant crime. 
France, noted throughout the world as the least religious 
nation in Christendom, was not ashamed to be made the 
instrument of replacing on the necks of a free people the 
yoke of the worst despotisms of mind and body that 
Christendom ever saw. France, with her forty million of 
people and her army of five hundred thousand men, was 
not ashamed to attack a state only just emerged from slavery, 
and a city garrisoned only by a few thousand untrained and 
inexperienced soldiers, and was kept at bay for weeks. The 
nineteenth century has recorded no blacker deed within its 
annals ! The recording angel of the French nation, in all 
her stained and chequered history, has chronicled nothing 
worse ! 

Hungary and Rome, then, had cast of the yoke by their 
own unaided efibrts ; and their masters, by their own unaided 
efibrts, were powerless to replace it. If the revolutionary 
years had brought to light no other fact, this alone would 
have been worth all their turmoil and their bloodshed. The 
sovereigns of these people at least reign only by the inter- 
vention of foreign mercenaries. The pope is a French pro- 
consul; and the Emperor of Austria is a vassal who does 
homage for his territories to the Czar of Russia. The people 
are no longer slaves to their own rulers, whom they had con- 
quered and expelled. They are simply prisoners of war to 
a foreign potentate. 

The condition of things in France is surely matter for 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 341 



wonder as well as condemnation. The empire of Napoleon 
was a despotism in its worst dress — bristling and threatening 
with bayonets. Intellect was proscribed. The lives and the 
property of millions were at the disposal of one man ; but 
that man was the "greatest genius of modern times — une- 
qualled as a warrior and great as a statesman." His head 
was surrounded with the glory of a hundred victories ; and 
though he at one time had France at his feet, he extended 
her power throughout Europe, and gave her many beneficial 
institutions. At present, Frenchmen are enslaved by a man 
without talents for war or government, and only remarkable 
for a daring and selfish ambition. That such a man as Louis 
Napoleon Bonaparte should be despotic in a country possess- 
ing so much genius, science, art and valour, is astonishing. 
The greatest men of France are in exile, while the citizens 
speak and act with the fear of a dungeon constantly before 
their eyes. Can we believe that Bonaparte is the free choice of 
nearly seven million Frenchmen, as the election returns say ? 
If so, where is the necessity of such an enormous military 
force being kept on the alert, and of such a strict proscrip- 
tion of all discussion? The idea is preposterous. The go- 
vernment is one of force and violence, and is only tolerated 
for the time, because the people are tired of political excite- 
ment, and wish for a period of repose. During this time, 
we must believe, the masses will recruit their strength, and 
then hurl the selfish and perjured tyrant from the chair of 
state, and give the death blow to all hereditary monarchical 
notions. Bonaparte, in pursuit of the object of his ambi- 
tion, violated a solemn oath, and caused the death of hun- 
dreds of citizens ; yet the clergy — the men of peace — came 
forward immediately after the coup d'etat and expressed 
their approval of it. When it is considered that the fall of 
Louis Napoleon would be the fall of Pius IX., and the tri- 
umph of the republicans of France the triumph of the re- 
publicans of Italy, this course of action will not remain 
unexplained. But surely such usurpation and tyranny are 
monstrous wrongs, and unworthy of the sanction of really 



342 PEESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 



good and wise men. What was the object of the coup 
dCetat? What, but the gratification of a selfish desire for 
power which has ever burned in the breast of Louis Napo- 
leon. Other objects may be put forth to dazzle or to divert, 
but the pursuit of the one mentioned above is the prominent 
feature of the usurper's career, and cannot be mistaken. 
France will not, cannot subnait to this outrageous state of 
things for any great length of time. She will awake, and 
her waking will be terrible. 

The grand efFect of the revolutionary period was the ex- 
tension of the power of Russia — that modern Rome, which 
threatens to overwhelm the eastern world. All the conti- 
nental powers have been brought into such a state as to feel, 
at every turn, the influence of Russia, so as to be forced to 
subserve her interests. 

The only clear-sighted politicians throughout the revolu- 
tionary struggle, with the exception of the cabinet of St. 
Petersburg, were the Poles — for the simple reason that their 
position shut them up to the course which time is demon- 
strating as the only one that can give emancipation to Eu- 
rope. The Poles, in all the part they have taken in the in- 
surrections of Europe, with the exception of a small party 
of doctrinaires, headed by Prince Czartorisky, have pursued 
only one course — their steady and avowed object being the 
destruction of the Austrian monarchy. It was on this point 
that they disagreed with the Sclavonian Congress at Prague, 
and, separating their cause from that of the Tzcheks and 
Croats, joined the Hungarians. In reading the articles of 
the leading Polish journals during the struggle, it is astonish- 
ing to see the prophetic clearness with which they point to 
the probable issue of the movement, even so early as Oc- 
tober, 1848 ; while other parties, amid the. whirl of their pas- 
sions, or the fascination of their theories, were losing all 
trace as to the real connection of affairs. In the month in 
which the Slawische Centralhlatter (Oct. 13) commented on 
the fall of Vienna in such language as the following — " The 
avenging Nemesis has crushed whosoever has ventured to 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 843 



lift up his hand against Sclavic liberty," — the Grazeta PolsJca 
the central paper of the Poles, expressed itself, even before 
the fate of Vienna was decided, in much wiser terms : — " The 
Viennese," says this journal, " are mistaken in holding up as 
they do the banner of radicalism with one hand, and the 
unity of the Austrian empire with the other. The two things 
are in absolute antagonism, and can never be made to unite. 
But not less mistaken are the Austrian Sclaves in endeavour- 
ing to retain that tottering fabric in their interest. Woe to 
Austria ! We predict this, whether Vienna be conqueror or 
conquered. Victory on the part of the Viennese will be fol- 
lowed by a war in Bohemia, a war with the south Slaves, and 
perhaps even with the Tyrolese ; by a second revolution in 
Venice and Lombardy — in short, by a civil war, and that 
war a war of race over the whole empire. Such an opportu- 
nity no nation earnest in the strife of liberty should allow to 
pass. Victory on the part of the emperor will be followed 
by a war with the Magyars, by an ascendency of the Sclaves, 
and a temporary reaction. But the more violent the latter 
shall be, the more determined and powerful will be the revo- 
lution called forth by it. In all this it is a singular part that 
is played by the Sclaves. They step forward as supporters 
of the throne — as champions for the rights of the emperor. 
Jellachich hastens with his Croats to Vienna ; the Lipa Slo- 
wanska, and the students of Prague, call upon the Bohemians 
to march against Vienna ; the Tzchec-deputies (Sclavonians) 
leave their seats, and declare the diet illegal and revolution- 
ary. Do the Croats act thus because they have a great aflfec- 
tion for absolutism ? Do the Lipa Slowanska and the Tzchec- 
deputies act thus because of their strong anti-democratic 
convictions ? Certainly not — inasmuch as absolutism has 
been to this moment the cause of all their misfortunes and 
wrongs. We cannot agree with them — we cannot praise 
them ; but in place of blindly condemning them, we must try 
to understand their position. They see only the one side of 
the solidarity — the point between Vienna and Frankfort ; and 
Frankfort is for Bohemia precisely what it is for us Poles in 



344 PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS, 



the grand-duchy of Posen — the destruction of nationality, 
the triumph of Wuttke, and such people, who lay claim to 
Prague as one of the oldest German towns. At this moment, 
the Tzchecs see in the Austrian emperor, not their own abso- 
lute master, but the enemy of the Magyars and the enemy 
of Frankfort, and they are allied to him by the same ties of 
interest. To retain possession of Hungary he must subdue 
the Magyars, and to subdue the Magyars, must be to deliver 
such Sclavonians as are subject to the Magyar power, to or- 
ganize the three southern Sclavonian kingdoms, to render 
them independent of the Magyar dominion, and to secure an 
equality of rights to those Slowaks whom the Magyars have 
so long held in subjection. Let the saving of the imperial 
power be the work of the Sclavonians, against the will of the 
Germans, and that power can no longer rest on a German 
basis, but must rest on that to which it has now betaken it- 
self — viz., the Sclavonian. Such is the calculation of the 
Sclavonians — but, simple as it appears, it may deceive them. 
Having once become the instrument of a foreign will, they 
will find it no easy matter to emancipate themselves from 
that power. If absolutism should triumph, and should gather 
new force by the war, it will soon turn that force against the 
men, whom it knows only as uncertain friends for the present, 
and as certain enemies for the future. It will prosecute its 
own schemes, without the least care about the interests of 
those who, assisting them for a while, were only aiming 
through that medium to serve their own purposes. Austria 
is German by its origin, and is now much too old to change 
its nature, and become an ally of the Sclavonians." 

This is sagacious and powerful writing, it was published 
early in October, 1848, before Windischgratz had captured 
Vienna. The passage shows that both the Poles and the 
Magyars have a vital interest in the unity of Germany, pro- 
vided it can be brought about by a wiser course than that 
pursued at Frankfort, which, if it had been successful, would 
have ended in setting up a colossal central power, that would 
have laid its unnatural and heavy yoke on something like 



PKESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 345 



half the princes and peoples of Europe. By dissolving Aus- 
tria and Prussia, and combining the German provinces in- 
cluded in those monarchies in one great confederation, 
Hungary would have been left to settle her own affairs, %fter 
the manner most congenial to her. The Magyars, who had 
done so much in the direction of freedom and equality before 
the revolution of February, would have done more in the 
new circumstances which followed, and would probably have 
retained a constitutional monarchy, which we can regard as 
being quite as much in its place in Hungary, England, and it 
may be in Poland, as it would be out of place in Germany, 
France, or Italy. With regard to the Poles, the portion of 
their territory included in Prussia and Austria being set free, 
and it being the interest both of the Magyar and German 
states that Russia should not he allowed to take possession 
of them, the natural consequence would have been a recon- 
struction of Poland. 

The great object of the Russian policy is the quiet and 
safe occupation of Constantinople. Gaining that point, not 
only the Austrian empire and Asia Minor would be in its 
power, but the Mediterranean and Persia. The German and 
Hungarian parts of Austria form a comparatively feeble en- 
closure between the Sclavonians of the north, including the 
Tzchecs and Slowacks, and those of the south, including the 
Illyrians, Croats, and Servians. The latter are not only of 
the same general race, but of the same tribe and religion, 
with the greater part of the inhabitants of Turkey. Were 
Russia to come into possession of that country, it would be 
her policy, as in all such cases, to excite the national and 
the religious fanaticism of the peasantry — each of whom has 
a portrait of the Czar and of St. Nicholas in his room — to 
to such an extent as to cause a war of extermination against 
the other two races ; which would issue in the interference 
of Russia, and the final incorporation of Austria as a part 
of her domain. In this manner, Russian diplomacy spreads 
its network from the centre of Europe to the centre of Asia. 
Many authentic documents, well known to men who take an 



346 PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 



interest in general politics, place it beyond doubt that such 
are the designs of Russia. 

The Russian policy in pursuit of this object has ever been, 
not only to generate strife between government and govern- 
ment, but between peoples bordering upon each other, and 
even between people in the same territory; the intention 
being to produce such entanglement and weakness as may 
afford plea or occasion for executing its own plans of en- 
croachment. In this manner the Russians have advanced 
step by step since the commencement of the present century, 
in spite of remonstrances, and even threats, from other go- 
vernments — from England among the rest. To such remon- 
strances, as proceeding from England, Count Nesselrode has 
always answered, and no doubt always will answer, in the 
language of a most friendly and ready submission to every- 
thing reasonable, but without any thought of cutting the nook 
in a single instance so as to lose hold on his coveted prey. 

On the fall of Napoleon, the war period was succeeded by 
the diplomatic period, and from that time the Russian cabinet 
began to spread its intrigues through Italy, in such a manner 
as to give the Austrians, the French, and the English enough 
to do to sustain their respective influences there. Austria 
especially might well complain of what she has suffered from 
this cause. Russia has given its secret aid to conspiracies 
and disaffections of all sorts, both among Italians and Ger- 
mans, that the resources of the governments affected by them 
might be consumed in the precautions deemed necessary to 
provide against them. Not, of course, that the Russian cabi- 
net has any sympathy with professions of liberalism, either 
by small princes, or by oppressed peoples ; or that the Car- 
bonari of Italy, or their brother conspirators, the Burschen- 
shaft of Germany, were people of the. sort that Nicholas 
would be disposed to favour as his own subjects. But it 
might be the tendency of any or of all these agencies to 
weaken his neighbours, and his own strength would grow by. 
that weakness. While, for this high-minded purpose, go- 
vernments were to be set against governments, and the dis- 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 34T 



affections between the ruling and the ruled were to be fanned 
into a flame, all Germany was to be kept in a state of morbid 
fear and hatred against France, so as occasionally to force 
both nations into costly preparations for war. With a re- 
finement in artifice worthy of Machiavelli, the selfishness of 
the German princes, the peculiarities of the German charac- 
ter, the vanities of' different nations and communities, all 
were wrought upon, partly by securing the services of their 
most talented authors, and partly by means of documents 
addressed directly to the different governments, setting forth 
with great skill the dangers said to be looming in the distance 
from the democratic spirit of France and England. 

One document of this description has been recently pub- 
lished, and a passage from it will suggest what we wish our 
readers to apprehend: — "We may take into consideration," 
says this authority, "the case of Germany, as subdued in a 
war against France and England, In this most mournful 
event the German governments whose possessions are on the 
left and right bank of the Rhine would find themselves com- 
pelled to make common cause with France against Eastern 
Germany, aiding to force the latter to a disastrous peace, 
which would probably indemnify France by surrendering to 
her the whole left bank of the Rhine, and by ceding much, 
especially great commercial advantages, to England. But 
however melancholy such a reverse of things would be to 
Germany, this kind of loss would not admit of comparison 
with the fearful consequences which the triumph of French 
and English constitutional principles would bring along with 
it, in respect to the German confederation and the separate 
States of the Union." Then follows a picture dark and ter- 
rible in its colouring, of the horrors that must ensue from this 
possible ascendency of the French or the English constitu- 
tionalism. 

We look over the surface of a large portion of Europe, and, 
calling to mind its ancient glories, we are naturally led to ask 
— and is there no hope ? The Mediterranean — the sea which 
was once, as its name imports, encircled by nearly all that was 



348 PRESENT ATTITUDE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 



known as the civilized world — the noble countries that still 
border upon its waters, how like an exhausted soil that has 
been worked until it will yield no more fruit do they seem ! 
And is there no new process of political and moral husbandry 
that may be brought successfully to bear upon them? We 
dare not suppose that. Europe is not, like Asia, shut up to 
one form of development — to one round of social existence. 
Her history has not been thus. Come into new culture and 
into new fruitfulness she will, and we are only solicitous to 
discern, if possible, what this new culture will be, that we may 
do something, however small, toward speeding the flow in that 
direction. Every day the struggle is verging itself more and 
more into the narrow compass of three words — " monarchies 
versus nationalities." 

So long as the present monarchies exist they must be great 
military monarchies. The sovereign will not surrender his 
command of the huge forces at his disposal. His plea about 
the national safety on the one side, will be placed over against 
all that may be said about dangers to the national liberty on 
the other. But retaining this power, he retains the power 
wherewith it will be easy to "bring back everything" at one 
time, that may have been ceded at another. Monarchy, so 
conditioned, may yield for the moment to external pressure ; 
but it is in its nature that it should rebound at the first 
favourable juncture — and even that it should create such 
junctures, if they should seem to be slow in coming. We say 
again, that the maxim — no faith with subjects — has been 
preached so unblushingly before all Europe that it cannot be 
forgotten. Hence the alternative now in the distance has 
come to be — either a military tyranny more degrading and 
terrible than European civilization has yet known ; or such a 
return to nationality as shall give to the« peoples of Europe 
the ultimate power, not merely in respect of legislation, but 
in respect to the executive — such power as, will, in effect, 
secure that the military force sustained at the public cost 
shall not be exercised in ways contrary to the public will. 
To these conditions the present leading sovereigns will not 



PRESENT ATTITUDE OP EUROPEAN AFFAIRS. 349 



submit ; and inasmuch as these monarchies will never consent 
to exist in this state of weakness, and inasmuch as the peo- 
ple dare not again trust them with their former powers, the 
nature of the war that has become inevitable must be patent 
to every man. 

We are not inobservant of the talk of many of our "Peace 
Society" friends. But in our grave judgment the tendencies 
of not a little of that talk are anything but wise, anything 
but humane. We have a deep horror of war — of the war 
which destroys by the sword. But we have a deeper horror 
still of the war that destroys by the many thousand forms of 
lingering death that are ever taking place beneath the dark 
wings of the demon of absolutism. To die in the battle-field 
may be terrible — to die in the night, and loneliness, and foul- 
ness of the dungeon is a thousandfold more terrible. We 
lament that thousands should perish as seamen or soldiers; 
but we lament with a sadder grief that millions should be 
dwarfed in mind, corrupted in heart, thrust down from their 
places as men, to be used up as so much material — and all that 
a certain family may rule, or that some chance possessor of 
power may continue to possess it. Absolutism is the Upas 
tree of mind. It inverts every principle of morals. It knows 
nothing of religion except as an engine of state. Man ceases 
-to be man as subject to its pressure. We have no wish to 
see the world at the bidding of such masters. The cost 
must be great that should not be freely incurred to place it 
in other hands. To bear with absolutism, wherever it can be 
put down, is to be false to humanity and to God. 




350 



THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 




Statue of Peter the Great at St. Petersburg. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE— THEIR COUNTRIES, CLASSES, CUSTOMS, 
AND INSTITUTIONS. 



^Russia. 

It may be said that Russia, by arts and arms, has attained 
the position of the dominant power in Europe ; and there- 
fore, in giving an account of the masses of that quarter of 
the world, we shall begin with the people included within the 
limits of her vast empire. The total area of the Russian 
dominions is estimated at not less than 8,552,700 square 
miles, within which are found about 67,000,000 inhabitants. 
European Russia extends from the Arctic ocean to the Black 
Sea and Caucasus mountains, and from Hungary to the Ural 
mountains, containing all the materiel and naval and military 
advantages necessary for the support of a great empire. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. . 351 



The surface of tlie Russian territory is the most level of 
any in Europe. That great tract of low land, -which begins 
in northern Germany, expands in Russia to its greatest 
breadth, exceeding twelve hundred miles. A great portion, 
in the south especially, consists of those immense levels called 
steppes, over which the eye may range for hundreds of miles 
without meeting a hill ; only some large ancient tumuli occa- 
sionally diversify their surface. They terminate only at the 
long chain of the Urals, which, rising like a wall, separates 
them from the equally vast plains of Siberia. The Urals are 
scarcely known, unless where the road to Asia passes over 
them : there they are neither very lofty nor very steep, but 
well AYOoded, and rich in minerals, especially on the Asiatic 
side. The mountains of Olonetz, on the north, appear to be 
a prolongation of those of Sweden; while, on the extreme 
south, the Crimea displays some steep and picturesque, though 
not very lofty, ranges. 

The rivers of Russia are of the first magnitude ; though 
the distant and insulated seas in which they terminate, incal- 
culably diminish their commercial importance. The Volga 
is the greatest river of the empire and of Europe. It rises 
in the frontier of Novogorod, not far from the Baltic, and 
traverses in a S. E. line all the central provinces. After re- 
ceiving from the Asiatic side the Kama, its greatest tributary, 
it flows chiefly S. S. E., forming the boundary of Europe and 
Asia, till, after a course of about twenty-seven hundred miles, 
it opens by numerous mouths into the Caspian near Astra- 
chan. Large and broad streams, spreading over the southern 
plains, slowly make their way to the Black Sea. Of these 
the chief are the Dnieper, celebrated under the name of Bo- 
rysthenes ; the Don, or Tanais, one of the boundaries of 
Europe ; and the smaller eastern stream of the Dniester. 
The Dwina, rising from a source not far distant from that of 
the Borysthenes, rolls a broad navigable stream toward the 
Baltic. Another Dwina, in the north, flows toward Arch- 
angel ; and during that brief portion of the year when it is 
free from ice, conveys to that remote haven the commodities 



352 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



of a wide extent of country. Lakes are not very character- 
istic of Russia ; yet those of Ladoga and Onega, in the north, 
are several hundred miles in circumference, and form a sort 
of continuation of the Gulf of Finland. Finland also is 
covered with numerous winding lakes, of varied form and di- 
mensions ; but all these, surrounded by flat and bleak shores 
and frozen plains, present little that is striking in point of 
scenery, and afford few facilities for internal intercourse. 
The forests are very extensive and there are valuable mines 
in various parts of the country. 

The civil and religious institutions of Russia colour the 
character of the people. 

The government of Russia is despotism, under which the 
knout is administered even to nobles of the highest rank who 
may have incurred the displeasure of the sovereign. The 
emperors have, indeed, endeavoured in some degree to miti- 
gate this absolute power, and have even formed a directing 
senate of sixty-two members, divided into departments ; but 
this body is entirely composed of individuals nominated by 
the monarch, and serves little other purpose than that of 
promulgating his ukases or decrees. It is believed, indeed, 
to have sanctioned the murders of unpopular or weak sove- 
reigns, which have so frequently stained the Russian annals ; 
and which have been conducted with a secrecy, and been fol- 
lowed by an exemption from punishment, which shows that 
they had been approved by the principal persons in the state. 
There are also hereditary nobles, who possess immense es- 
tates, estimated not by the amount of lands or rents, but by 
the number of slaves ; yet the titles conferred and recognised 
by the government are all military. The ranks of colonel 
and major-general are conferred, in a manner purely honor- 
ary, upon professors, and even ladies, as, the only mode of 
raising them in the scale of society. Justice is administered 
with considerable care : conjointly with the judges are ap- 
pointed assessors, who must be of the same rank as the per- . 
son tried, and thus somewhat resemble our jury ; but a gene- 
ral corruption, the inevitable fruit of despotism, and of the 




Punishment of Female witli Knout. 




Ivibitka, or Russian Sleigh. 
23 



354 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



inadequate payment of the functionaries, is alleged to per- 
vade this, and, indeed, all the official departments. It is not, 
however, to be denied that the views of the supreme govern- 
ment have, for the most part, been highly liberal, warmly 
devoted to the improvement of the empire, and to the moral 
exaltation of its people among the civilized nations of 
Europe. 

The religion of Russia, so far as relates to establishment, 
is that of the Greek church, which is professed with many 
superstitious observances. The worship of images is carried 
to a great extent, though the letter of the scriptural prohibi- 
tion is sought to be evaded by having only the drapery in re- 
lief, and the face flat and painted. With these representa- 
tions, not only the churches are filled, but every serf has one 
in his cottage, to which he pays sundry and uncouth acts of 
obeisance. Fasts are frequent, long, and rigidly observed ; 
but at the festivals they indemnify themselves by an excess 
of eating, which not unfrequently proves fatal. In no cities, 
perhaps, are religious ceremonies and processions celebrated 
with such pomps as at Petersburg and Moscow. The long 
trains and gorgeous robes of the priests, the glittering in- 
signia waved over them, the blaze of thousands of tapers, 
and the innumerable crowds of assembled devotees, are said 
to eclipse every scene of similar splendour in Spain and 
Italy. The festival of the resurrection is the most splendid ; 
and next to it those on the two, certainly natural, occasions, 
the breaking of the ice on the Neva, and the first springing 
up of verdure from the long-frozen earth. Russia had once 
a patriarch, almost equal in power to the Catholic pope : but 
Peter, jealous of his functions, assumed them to himself ; and 
his successors have ever since exercised them. The parish 
priests have slender incomes, eked out by fees ; they are ig- 
norant, vulgar, and belong almost to the lowest class of so- 
ciety. They amuse the people with shows and observances, 
but seem scarcely capable of communicating to them any 
moral or spiritual ideas. Instead, however, of being bound 
to celibacy, they are laid under an obligation to marry ; in 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 355 



the hope, it is said, of rendering tlieir conduct more regular, 
but without always securing that result. The higher orders 
of clergy are all monks, well endowed, living usually retired 
and regular lives, and often possessed of considerable learn- 
ing ; but they come little in contact with the body of the 
nation. The Lutherans are nearly confined to Finland and 
Livonia. The Crimea, and some other southern districts, are 
Mohammedan. The Catholics and Unitarian Greeks are nearly 
confined to the Polish provinces. The Russian government 
professes, and generally administers an absolute toleration, 
and even equality of rights among the different religious 
professions : yet the caprice of despotism sometimes issues 
very tyrannical mandates. Such was the one prohibiting the 
Jews from exercising any of the trades by which they have 
hitherto gained a subsistence, and enjoining them to ap- 
ply solely to agriculture, which they had always shunned; 
and another, by which they were banished from both the 
capitals. 

The basis of the great population is entirely Sclavonic ; a 
race distinguished by a peculiar language; by a patient, 
hardy, obstinate, and enduring character ; by a very limited 
extent of intellectual culture, and of the characteristics which 
raise man above the brute. This last deficiency, however, 
we should be very little disposed to regard as the fixed doom 
.of any particular race of men. It appears the consequence 
of long ages of bondage and oppression, and of the insulated 
position of this people in the heart of these immense steppes 
and deserts ; removed from all the impulses which have ren- 
dered the western nations so enlightened and energetic. 
There are about three millions of the Finnish race, occupying 
the acquired provinces of Livonia, Esthonia, and Finland, 
the shores of the Northern Ocean, and some tracts along the 
borders of Asia. Tartars also inhabit the Crimea, and have 
penetrated into some of the southern steppes. The great 
body of the nation is divided, without medium or gradation, 
into the distant classes of nobles and slaves. The few who 
struggle between these opposite extremes are insulated and 



356 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



unprotected individuals, who can scarcely attain a place or 
cliaracter in society. 

The nobles are the body chiefly acted upon by that forced 
and imported civilization, by which Peter sought to convert 
the nation at once from the depth of barbarism to the high- 
est pitch of refinement. In fact, as to outward aspect and 
manners, this body, especially that great proportion who have 
travelled, are scarcely to be distinguished from the most 
brilliant society of the western courts ; and among the num- 
ber are included many well-informed, intelligent, and liberal 
individuals. Their cultivation, both as to manners and in- 
tellect, is principally derived from France, whose language 
is almost exclusively spoken at court, and whose writers alone 
are generally read ; but the gay polish of French manners 
harmonizes ill with the remnants of Muscovite rudeness. 
Many of the nobles boast a high descent, tracing their origin 
even to Ruric ; a claim not admitted by the court, which 
studies to merge all distinction in military rank, real or ficti- 
tious. Their fortunes are in some cases truly enormous, es- 
pecially when compared with the cheapness of provisions. 
The head of the Scheremetov family, reckoned the richest, 
is said to have 125,000 slaves, estimated at 150 rubles each. 
The nobles generally spend these estates in profuse and os- 
tentatious hospitality ; combining, though not very tastefully, 
the open house of the feudal baron with the elegance and 
splendour of Parisian luxury. Dr. Clarke and Dr. Lyall re- 
mark a feature which belongs to the dark ages of British 
civilization. The gradations of rank are observed not only 
in the places assigned at these long tables, but in the viands 
placed before them ; so that, while the guests near the master 
of the house are regaled on sturgeon and champagne, those 
toward the lower end partake of sauer kraut and black cab- 
bage broth; nor can a guest, without the violation of all 
propriety, solicit food that does not belong to his station. 
An immense household of servants, amounting in country 
residences not unfrequently to five or six hundred, and an 
extraordinary profusion of silver plate, are the two reigning 



358 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



points of magnificence ; but, unluckily, these luxuries are 
often alloyed by some failure as to cleanliness, both of per- 
son, furniture, and dishes. What is worse, an absence is in 
many instances observable of that nice sense of honour which 
forms the pride of English aristocracy. It was under Peter I. 
that Prince Menzikoff and the governor of Ingria were 
whipped for peculation ; but it is said that the difficulties in 
which the profuse expenditure of the Russian nobles often 
involves them, are still sometimes met by expedients which 
we should consider as quite incompatible with the character 
of a gentleman. However, they have entirely renounced the 
national habits of intoxication, originally so strong, that 
Peter the Great deemed it necessary to prohibit ladies from 
getting drunk at a ball, but durst only fix for gentlemen a 
limitation as to time. We wish it could be added that ladies 
of rank were equally distinguished for their domestic and 
conjugal virtues ; of which, indeed, some bright examples 
may be found ; but the French modes of life, and the dread- 
ful examples set by Elizabeth, Catherine, and other empresses, 
have found but too many imitators, and have rendered man- 
ners, in this respect, looser than in any other European 
court. 

The slaves, the other dire extreme of Russian society, form 
still the great mass of the people. The peasants of the 
crown amount to about 17,700,000 ; those of private indi- 
viduals to about 21,000,000; in all, 38,500,000. This class 
is divested of every right, political and personal, scarcely 
excepting that of life. The master has the full power of the 
scourge, which is liberally exercised, and of every other cor- 
poral punishment which does not produce death in twenty- 
four hours. There is, indeed, a law by which the master may 
in that case, be brought to justice ; and there are marshals' 
courts, to which, in certain cases, the slave may appeal ; but 
these means of redress are practically very precarious. The 
crown has done every thing in its power to forward emanci- 
pation ; but as it never has ventured upon compulsory sta- 
tutes, and as the nobility remain rootedly attached to the 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 



359 




Russians. 



good old system, little impression has been made on the great 
mass of bondage. The slaves, however, are not so severely 
oppressed as in the West Indies. They are not under the 
daily whip of a taskmaster. The cultivating peasant has a 
spot of land, for which he pays ohroh or rent, which is apt, 
indeed, to be unreasonably screwed up by a necessitous land- 
lord ; but otherwise he labours and earns for himself. Some 
villages have even raised large sums to relieve an esteemed 
master from the pressure of necessities which would have 
obliged him to sell his estate, and transfer them to another 
proprietor. Those who, on payment of personal obrok, 
practice trades in cities, often attain to opulence ; a slave of 
Count Scheremetov is mentioned as carrying on a manufac- 
tory that employed four thousand persons ; and a slave of 
Count Strogonov constructed the Kasan chiu'ch, the finest in 
the capital. Still all the profits earned by the slave belong 



360 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



by law to the master ; but public opinion has established such 
a bar against his taking more than a proportion, that it hap- 
pens only in a very few instances. A certain moral degra- 
dation is almost inevitably entailed on their unfortunate des- 
tiny. A profound craft, a sulky obstinacy, a studious con- 
cealment of every quality and possession of which their 
master could avail himself, are habits natural to the slave. 
He shows, however, a stubborn acquiesence, which somewhat 
resembles contentment ; an untameable passive courage, and 
a constant thoughtless cheerfulness and good humour. The 
Russian slaves have a surprising talent at imitation, common 
among enslaved and uncultivated minds. The master dis- 
tributes household employments among numerous slaves, 
without any consideration of natural talent, or almost any 
instruction, except the cudgel ; yet the functions of each are 
executed with a surprising degree of correctness. From the 
period of their subjection by the Tartars, they have retained 
some oriental habits ; of these the most remarkable is the 
use of the vapour bath, which, under some form, is a neces- 
sary appendage to every village, even under the frozen cli- 
mate of Archangel. It is considered as equally conducive 
to pleasure and to health ; and even in the farthest north, 
the delight of the bathers is to come out reeking hot, and 
roll themselves in the snow ; which process, instead of killing 
them, is said materially to invigorate the frame. 

The Russian habitations so far as relates to the palaces of 
the nobility, and to the public buildings, which are all erected 
by the crown, are formed on the model of the rest of Europe, 
and display a magnificence elsewhere unrivalled. All the others 
are miserable in the extreme, calling to mind the first rude 
efforts of man after he came out from the hollow of the oak. 
They consist merely of the trunks of trees; not even formed 
into logs, the interstices filled with moss and clay, and the light 
usually admitted by square open crannies ; thus they resemble 
casual piles of timber rather than human dwellings. Hence 
the chronicles use the expression "cutting a town," because the 
felling of the timber is the only arduous part of the process. 



362 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



The national amusements are chiefly those afforded by the 
ice ; for here, as all over the north, the gayest season is when 
its, impenetrable surface covers all the earth and the waters. 
The Neva is entirely occupied by parties skaiting, running, 
sledge-races, and enjoying other sports of the season. A 
favourite diversion is afforded by the ice-hills, on whose sides 
are formed steep inclined planes, down which the adventurer 
throws himself, seated on a machine, which he guides with 
surprising skill. Swinging is another Russian diversion; to 
which may be added the common ones of dancing, and of a 
national music, which, with the songs and ballads to which it 
is sung, is very plaintive and pleasing. 

The national dress of Russia consists of a long coat reach- 
ing to the calves of the legs, with numerous tucks at the bot- 
tom of the waist ; a vest of coloured linen, leaving the neck 
bare; thin boots, or shoes, of the bark of the linden. In 
winter, a sheepskin pelise is substituted for the coat. The 
dress of the higher ranks is now formed studiously on the 
European model, though no other part of Europe can rival 
the gorgeous robes worn by the nobles and bishops on public 
occasions, or the profusion of diamonds which covers their 
persons, making them appear all in a blaze. 

The staple food of the Russian peasant consists of black 
rye bread and cabbage broth, thickened with oatmeal, which 
Dr. Clarke mentions with horror, but which, according tp 
Dr. Lyall, may be made far from unpalatable; sometimes 
salted or frozen fish. The standing drink is their favourite 
quass, made by pouring warm water on rye or barley-meal. 
The rich cover their tables with French wines and the most 
delicate dishes, among which sterlet from the Volga, and veal 
from Archangel, are highly valued. The preliminary use of 
salt fish, cheese, and brandy, as a whet, is -as general here as 
in Scandinavia. 

We shall now proceed to speak of the distinctive characteris- 
tics of the people of the different provinces of Russia. Fin- 
land, a recent ill-acquired possession, seems now finally united 
to the great empire. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 363 



The Fins are still attached to Sweden; but, being well 
treated, their trade protected, and their national customs 
respected, they acquiesce with tolerable patience. The 
country is almost a counterpart of Sweden; "a succession 
of hill and dale, abounding in forests of fir and beech, inter- 
spersed with numerous lakes, and thickly overspread with 
shattered fragments of granite." During the winter it is 
covered with a hard uniform surface of snow and ice, in which 
the roads are marked by boughs of fir laid along them. The 
Gulf of Bothnia, between Finland and Sweden, is then en- 
tirely frozen over, and sledges drive across it, beating for 
themselves a smooth and hard road, which is only a little 
dangerous at the commencement and close of the season. 
The Fins are a race by themselves, and speak a language 
which is quite distinct from that of any of their neighbours, 
and seems to be in its origin Asiatic. They are on the whole 
a patient, laborious, well-disposed people. 

White or Malo-Russia, called also the Ukraine, has under- 
gone various revolutions. It was the centre of Russia as first 
known to the Greeks, when Kiev, its capital, was boasted as 
a rival to Constantinople. It passed then through the hands 
of the Tartars and the Poles, till the conquering arms of 
Russia again reunited it, but as an appendant province. The 
Malo-Russians are a distinct race, decidedly superior to the 
Red Russians. They excel them, according to Dr. Clarke, 
in every thing that can exalt one class of men above another : 
industry, honesty, courtesy, cleanliness, neatness. Their 
houses are carefully whitewashed, the interior well-furnished, 
and nicely clean. Malo-Russia is one extensive and fertile 
plain, not so ill cultivated as the rest of the empire, and 
therefore more populous. 

But the Cossacks have a high military reputation, and 
form the irregular part of the Russian army. These inhabi- 
tants of certain steppes or plains, chiefly on the borders of 
the Russian empire, are easily distinguished as a race pos- 
sessing a degree of constitutional liberty and independence ; 
accustomed to dwell remote, as it were, from civiHzation, in 



364 THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPE : 



vast and desert districts ; and habituated to constant warfare 
of some sort or other. They are governed partly by their 
own laws, and enjoy peculiar privileges and exemptions in 
considerations of military services, which they are obliged to 
render to the state when called upon. At such times they 
appear fully equipped and mounted at their own expense; 
but obtain from government a trifling maintenance, in com- 
mon with the other Russian soldiers, during the period of 
actual service. At the termination of the war, or when their 
assistance is no longer necessary, they return to their homes ; 
and, from being the ruthless Scythian and devastating in- 
vader, the Cossack becomes the unoffending, honest, and hos- 
pitable inhabitant, and again resumes his various occupations 
in agriculture and commerce. 

There are several tribes or denominations of this species 
of force, such, for instance, as the Cossacks of the Bug, of 
Tschuguyef, of the Don, of Tchernomorski, formerly the 
Zaporagian Cossacks, the Uralian, formerly the Yaick Cos- 
sacks, and the Calmucks of Stawropol; and each tribe is 
governed by its respective Ataman or commander-in-chief, 
and ofl&cers chosen from among themselves, who are all obliged 
to pass regularly through the different gradations of military 
rank, from that of private. These different tribes were, it 
was calculated, at the close of the late war with France, 
capable of bringing into the field an aggregate of no less 
than a hundred and seventeen thousand warriors. Thus it 
will be seen of what vast consequence they are to the Russian 
empire, and the necessity there exists for keeping up a good 
understanding with them, and securing their allegiance. 

It was not until about the time of Catherine II., that at- 
tempts were made to organize the Cossacks. Both Prince 
Potemkin and Souvoroff were extremely attached to them, 
and beloved by them in return ; the former more particularly, 
is reported to have taken considerable pains to improve their 
condition as soldiers; he formed them into regiments, sub- 
jected them to discipline, established among them a certain 
system, and employed them with great effect in their true 




Jgf=^ 



A Cossack. 



366 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE 



character of foragers and light troops, for 'which they seem 
peculiarly well adapted. Since that period, they have under- 
gone other partial changes in their organization, although 
they have not yet been brought to act with any degree of 
regularity. 

Under their Ataman Platoff, it is well remembered what 
wonders they achieved, and of what infinite utility the Cos- 
sacks were to the Russians during the continental wars, 
in covering the front of their army, masking its move- 
ments, protecting its flanks, and securing its retreats; in 
reconnoitring and foraging; in hovering continually about 
the enemy, harassing him, and cutting off his supplies. 

Erom the natural hardiness of constitution both of the Cos- 
sacks and their horses, they are enabled to make exertions 
of an extraordinary nature ; and by swimming rivers in the 
winter time, and making forced marches of considerable 
length, amid all the rigours of frost and snow, their sudden 
and unexpected appearance has often baffled the designs and 
efforts of their opponents. Not only have they performed all 
these duties, in which no troops equal them, with a perseve- 
rance and vigour that is scarcely credible, but they have been 
known even to charge infantry en trailleur in a wood; and 
in a general action to snatch the palm from the regular 
forces of Russia, by retrieving the fortune of the day. The 
losses they occasioned Napoleon in the fields of Poland and 
Russia, where they were the cause of constant annoyance, 
havoc, and slaughter, to the French troops, especially during 
the disastrous retreat from Moscow, can never be forgotten. 

The Cossacks of the Don are the most numerous and im- 
portant of all the tribes; and are distinguished from the rest 
by greater civilization and industry. Their capital is Novo- 
Tcherkask, a neat town not far from the Don, near its en- 
trance into the Sea of Asof. They breed .great quantities of 
horses, cattle, and sheep; are cultivators of the vine; fond 
of agriculture in general; and can furnish a contingent of 
no fewer than eighty regiments for service from among them. 
Each regiment consists of five hundred men, having a stand- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 367 



ard and captain for every hundred, independent of junior 
oflBcers, one or two field officers for the whole, according to 
circumstances, and a lieutenant-colonel, or colonel command- 
ant, whose name the regiment bears. The two corps before 
Giurgevo were of this tribe; they had served in the war 
against France, and, together with their chiefs, Kykowsky 
and Demidoff, had distinguished themselves considerably. 

The usual dress or uniform of the Don Cossack is a blue 
shell jacket, without buttons, but hooked down the front; 
loose trousers of the same colour, ornamented down the sides 
with a stripe of red cloth; and a cylindrical calpac, or low 
forage cap. A short fur cloak, called a burka, made of a 
peculiar impenetrable skin, is either suspended from his 
shoulders or carried on the saddle. His weapons are a pistol 
stuck under each arm, and attached by a neck-line, sufficiently 
long to admit of their being discharged with an extended 
arm; a firelock slung across his back; a sabre at his side; 
and a long, twelve or fourteen foot pike, which is constantly 
in his hand. He is mounted upon a small, bony, and by 
no means Bucephalus-like, but certainly hardy, horse, which 
is guided by a single snaffle, and equipped with a simple 
wooden saddle-tree, of unusual height, furnished with a 
leather cushion strapped over it ; this cushion forms not only 
the ordinary seat and pillow of the Cossack, but serves as a 
depository for his money and valuables. The horse much re- 
sembles, in shape and character, the common hack of the 
Irish peasant, and is urged by a severe whip, something like 
a flail, called a kandshu, which the rider, who does not wear 
spurs, generally carries with a loop over his wrist or across 
his shoulders. Thus dressed, equipped, and mounted, the 
sturdy warrior of the Don is, on the slightest alarm, instantly 
ready for the combat. 

The kingdom of Kasan forms a semi- Asiatic member of the 
empire. Down to the sixteenth century it was a Tartar king- 
dom, held by a branch of the posterity of Zingis ; but in 1550 
it yielded to the arms of Ivan. The people are still chiefly 
Tartars, and more civilized than the bulk of that race ; culti- 



368 



THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 




Polish Travellers attacked by Wolves. 



vating the ground "with diligence, exporting corn, and bestow- 
ing still greater attention on their flocks and herds. They 
also tan, and even embroider leather, and make much soap. 

The Baltic provinces of Ingria, Estharia, Livania, and 
Courland are chiefly inhabited by a people of German origin, 
who are frugal, industrious, persevering, generally satisfied 
with the government, and prosperous. 

Polish Russia is an extensive tract of country, comprising 
the sections known as Lithuania, Podlacia, Volhynia, and 
Podolia. The inhabitants are Catholic Poles and Jews. The 
latter are the most energetic and prosperous. The Catholic 
Poles are generally dissatisfied, indolent, poor, and miserable. 
They never can regard the Russian government with other 
feelings than those of abhorrence ; and as they have no ground 
to hope for independence, they are content to mutter their 
imprecations, and enjoy what they may of life. The inhabit- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 369 



ants of Old Poland are in the same condition. After their 
struggle for liberty in 1830-31, their constitution was taken 
from them, and since they have felt the close gripe of de- 
spotism. Even in 1848 they dared not strike for freedom 
and independence. In manners and intelligence the Poles 
are superior to the Russians, but they lack the virtues of 
steadiness and perseverance. A quick, restless, and quarrel- 
some spirit is their chief characteristic. 

The Caucasian tribes are generally regarded as subjects 
of the Czar, though they have never been conquered. These 
bold, determined, and warlike mountaineers have contrived, 
with forces very much inferior in number, to keep the armies 
of Russia at bay, and, occasionally, to give them terrible de- 
feats. They are a handsome race, and active, intelligent, 
frugal, and patient. Their noble struggle for independence 
has won for them the admiration of the world. Russia has 
been obliged to concede to them much greater privileges than 
she has ever permitted her other subjects to enjoy. Feudal 
notions prevail among the Caucasian tribes, and the condi- 
tions of lord and serf are steadily maintained. 

The introduction of literature has been an object of anxious 
concern to the Russian monarchs, who have yet been able to 
illuminate only partially the night of ignorance in which their 
vast empire is plunged. The chief scientific glory of Russia 
arises from the names of Pallas, Gmelin, Euler, Bernoulli, 
and other German savans, whom the bounty of Catherine in- 
duced to form either a permanent, or at least a temporary, 
residence at Petersburg. French literature, however, has 
always been the most fashionable in the higher Russian cir- 
cles ; though, with the two exceptions of Grimm and La 
Harpe, the French savans have in vain been invited to ex- 
change the delights of Paris for the frozen splendour of the 
northern capital. The Russian is beginning to be a written 
language : there are said to be now eight thousand works 
printed in it, which, however, is not very much more than the 
number annually published in Germany. Lomonosofi" and 
Sumorokoff rank as the greatest Russian poets ; and Karam- 



24 



870 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



sin, by his writings in the different branches of the belles- 
lettres, has drawn attention even beyond Russia. 

The public establishments for science in Russia are highly 
endowed and patronized. The Academy of Sciences, planned 
by Peter the Great, was founded by Catherine I., who as- 
signed to it a revenue of five thousand pounds. The society 
was regulated by the advice of Wolf and Leibnitz ; and seve- 
ral of the greatest modern names have adorned its annals. 
Gmelin, Pallas, and others of its members, have been em- 
ployed at great expense, in exploring the most distant pro- 
vinces. The Academy of Arts was founded by Elizabeth, but 
enlarged by Catherine II., who allowed it twelve thousand 
pounds of annual revenue, to be employed in supporting three 
hundred pupils, and in procuring the best models of every 
kind. The library has never become very extensive, but is 
rendered curious by the ancient manuscript chronicles ; and 
by a collection of Chinese works, amounting to two thousand 
eight hundred. The museum has many interesting and pecu- 
liar features derived from the mineral products of the em- 
pire, particularly a vast mass of native iron found in Siberia ; 
fossil remains of the mammoth and other gigantic animals ; 
the dresses, arms, and implements of the rude nations of Si- 
beria and Tartary ; the ornaments found in the tombs of the 
Altai. The imperial library is also extensive ; and a fine 
cabinet of paintings has been formed by the purchase of the 
Crozat collection, the Houghton, formed by Sir Robert Wal- 
pole, and others of inferior magnitude. The university of 
Petersburg was founded in 1804, by the Emperor Alexander, 
and endowed with an income of one hundred and thirty thou- 
sand rubles. 

St. Petersburg is the centre of Russian splendour and mag- 
nificence. In many respects, it is superior to every other 
European capital, while its circles of nihility and fashion 
rival those of Paris and London. St. Petersburg is built on 
islands, which lie among the branches of the river Neva. 
There are about forty of these islands, five of which are 
planted with gardens ; some have trees and country-houses. 



""SJ^JJ -t.^' 




^^fyitmi^^u&^eiR'^^^^ ^^ 



872 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



These are favourite places of amusement for the Russians on 
their holidays. Some islands are quite desert ; bears and wolves 
are the only living things that find refuge there. The wolves 
sometimes come across on the ice during the winter, greatly 
to the alarm of the Russians. The gardens in and near St. 
Petersburg are beautiful. The soil they are made of is 
brought from a great distance. Some gardens are made on 
the tops of houses, the roofs of which are flat. One of the 
royal palaces, called the Hermitage, has a lovely garden on 
the roof. Fruit-trees do not thrive in the open air ; there 
are, however, kitchen-gardens for vegetables near St. Peters- 
burg, and numerous hot-houses, which supply the city with 
pines, melons, and asparagus. Apples are brought two hun- 
dred miles ; plums and grapes from the south of Russia. 
Even hay and corn, like every thing else, is brought from a 
great distance. Meat is fattened on the shores of the Black 
Sea ; butter comes from Finland, and great quantities are con- 
sumed. From the Neva being frozen for so many months, 
the surface presents a gay scene. The populace are amused 
with swings, roundabouts, and above all by the ice-hills : 
these are sloping plains of great height, covered by blocks 
oi ice. You ascend by flights of steps at the back. You 
then get in a low sledge, which is carried down so swiftly, 
that it ascends the hill on the other side. You can then take 
your sledge up the next flight of stairs and again descend. 
AH commercial intercourse with other countries is stopped 
during the winter, so the Russians have time to indulge their 
natural taste for amusement. The Russians know better 
than any people how to defend themselves against the cold. 
On the whole, the winter there is the best season of the year. 
The Cold, when it once sets in, is equal and constant, and it 
strengthens and braces the body. The poor sufier less from 
cold than in many warmer climates. Public rooms are kept 
where they can always go, and large fires are constantly 
burning in front of the theatres. 

Moscow is the only other city in the empire, which can 
claim attention for the beauty of its buildings and the splen- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 373 



dour of portions of its society. Even there, the palace and 
the hovel are found side by side, fitly representing the condi- 
tion of the Russian people. 

The military force of Russia is the subject of anxiety and 
terror to Europe ; and has, indeed, if official statements may 
be credited, attained to a most enormous amount. According 
to them, it rose, in 1820, to no less than 989,000 men, inde- 
pendent of the national guard. The real strength of the 
Russian army has always consisted, not in its numbers, but 
in the passive and iron valour of its infantry, and the rapid 
and skilful movements of its irregular cavalry ; the Cossacks, 
Baschkirs, and other Asiatic nomades. Its field artillery 
also has commanded the admiration of the best tacticians. 
It has been boasted, indeed, that the new military colonies, 
when brought into full operation, will afford a regular supply 
of three millions of recruits. They consist of the crown pea- 
santry, who are formed into villages, and subjected to strict 
military discipline. The head colonist, or farmer, receives 
fifty acres, and a neat house, burdened with the support of a 
soldier and his horse : these, when not at exercise, or called out 
into actual service, assist in his agricultural labours. By this 
means, in 1820, there were organized 48,000 troops in three 
hundred and eighty-four villages ; and it was proposed gradu- 
ally to extend the system. But, besides that these could never 
be more than an ill-disciplined militia, their increase is opposed 
by various obstacles. The crown peasants, whose servitude be- 
fore was little more than nominal, grievously complain of the 
present rigorous coercion, and of the burden of supporting a 
soldier-servant, whose aid is very doubtful, and who is more 
likely to act as a master. It would be very difficult to insure 
the submission of these armed colonists ; and, at all events, 
the number who could be marched out of the empire would 
be limited by the narrow amount of the funds out of which 
they could be supported. 

To render Russia a naval European power, in which cha- 
racter she had no existence at the commencement of the last 
century, was the object of strenuous effort both to Peter and 



374 . THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



Catherine. A navy was accordingly created on the Baltic 
and Black Sea, which enabled Kussia to become predominant 
in both. 

In 1840, the Russian navy consisted of fifty-six ships-of- 
the-line, varying from seventy-four to one hundred and twenty 
guns; forty-eight frigates, varying from forty- four to sixty 
guns, and an adequate number of sloops-of-war, brigs, and 
steamers.* 

Since 1831, the system of recruiting the army by the con- 
scription, or general levy, prevails again. The sons of trades- 
men and peasantry are particularly liable to this levy. The 
merchants, professors, artists, physicians, civil officers, law- 
yers, &c. are not liable to the duties of military service. 
Bondsmen become free as soon as they enter the army. The 
same rule prevails in regard to the naval service. 

The commerce, agriculture, and manufactures of Russia 
have advanced with magic speed within the last twenty years, 
under the fostering policy of the government ; and at present 
a vast number of her subjects are engaged in these pursuits. 
Freedom must extend with commerce, as the history of the 
world proves ; and, therefore, it is a cheering prospect to see 
so great a number of people, fresh from the depths of barba- 
rism an(^ ignorance, turning their attention to the elevating 
work of trade. 

It is impossible to deny that the present autocrat of the 
Russian empire is an able and enlightened ruler — one willing 
to do every thing in his power to elevate his subjects — one 
worthy of the esteem and affection the Russian people gene- 
rally profess to hold for him. But while we admire the- man, 
we must condemn the system. All the virtues of Nicholas 
cannot ward offer correct the evils inherent in absolute rule — 
the substitution of the changeful will of one man for the wise, 
steady, and general regulations of a written constitution. 
Nicholas does not condemn persons to suffer the punishment 
of the knout or exile in the savage wilds of Siberia without 

* Ungewitter. 



376 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



good reason, perhaps. But his successor may, and there is 
the flaw. A written law would render justice certain. How- 
ever, the Russian people have made steady advances toward 
liberal institutions. The terrible oppressions of the nobles 
have been constantly opposed by the czars, who have aimed 
to emancipate all the bondsmen. The object is perhaps to 
strengthen and secure the power of the autocrat. But after 
the people have been placed, in a great measure, upon an 
equality, it will become the object of all to restrain the power 
of the sovereign, and free institutions will be the natural 
result. This consummation is "most devoutly to be wished," 
for until it occurs the extension of the dominion of Russia 
will be synonymous with the extension of despotism, with all 
its train of horrors. 

g)iM^trm ant i^oriMag. 

Sweden and Norway now form one kingdom, though they 
have different constitutions and laws. An account of their 
political system will perhaps enable us to understand why 
the people of the Scandinavian peninsula were not affected 
by the revolutions in Europe in 1848. 

Sweden embraces the eastern and larger half of the penin- 
sula, and is ofl&cially divided into twenty-four counties, styled 
Lane. Yet the ancient division into as many provinces is in 
substance left unaltered.* 

The constitution of Sweden is one of the few in Europe 
which has always preserved some portion of that representa- 
tive system which had been formed in remote ages. Toward 
the close, indeed, of the last century, it was reduced by Gus- 
tavus III. to little more than a form. Bernadotte, however, 
an elected monarch, without any national claim, was obliged 
to court the favour of the nation, and, with that view, to re- 
establish the rights of its national diet. This is now rather 
an antique and cumbrous form of legislature, consisting of 

* Ungewitter. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 377 



four orders; the nobles, the clergy, the peasants, and the 
burghers ; who sit and vote in separate houses. 

Of these houses, that of the nobles consists of about twelve 
hundred members ; the head of each family being, by inherit- 
ance, its legal representative. They are divided into three 
classes : — herra, counts, barons, &c. ; reddar, knights ; and 
sivena, or gentlemen who, though without any title, have re- 
ceived letters patent of nobility. The house of clergy con- 
sists of the archbishop and all the bishops ; while the rest of 
the ecclesiastical body is represented by deputies. The 
burghers are chosen by the towns, every freeman who pays 
taxes having a vote : they form an independent body, partly, 
perhaps, because the honour of a seat is not eagerly contested, 
The peasants do not exactly correspond to our idea of that 
term: they consist of a body of little proprietors, or lairds, 
who cultivate their own ground, and who are numerous in 
Sweden. Their allowance of a dollar a day is provided by a 
subscription among their constituents; and, in some cases, 
two or three districts must combine to furnish out one deputy. 
The nobles have bestirred themselves much to keep down the 
attempts made by this class to rise in society. They have 
procured regulations, according to which no person could sit 
in the house who allowed himself to be called Herr, (or Mr.) 
or who wore a coat of fine cloth. Nothwithstanding all their 
efforts, however, this house and that of the burghers are 
daily increasing in strength. 

In the division of powers, the royal prerogative is ample. 
The king appoints to all o^ces, civil and military, and he is 
obliged to convoke the diet only once in five years, and to 
continue its sittings three months; but he may make the 
meetings more frequent, and longer. He has also a negative 
upon the laws proposed by the diet. In regard to the diet 
itself, the division rests with a majority of the houses; but if 
they be two against two, the balance is struck by the Com- 
mittee of State, a body composed of a certain number of 
members from each. No tax can be levied, or loan obtained, 
without the consent of the diet 



378 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



The storthing of Norway, restored by Bernadotte, is pos- 
sessed of much higher privileges than the Swedish diet. It 
assembles more frequently, and at its own time, without any 
control from the king ; and it allows to him only a suspensive 
veto, obliging him to accept any project which has been three 
times presented by the storthing. These rights having been 
once granted, Bernadotte, who found them pressing somewhat 
hard against his prerogative, made several fruitless attempts 
to abridge them. Mr. Lloyd, in his Travels, informs us that a 
highly republican spirit prevails in Norway, and that the influ- 
ence, and almost existence, of the nobles is nearly annihilated. 

The religion of Scandinavia is Lutheran, and the church 
episcopal. This country, which stood long at the head of the 
great Protestant confederacy, is animated with an ardent zeal 
for the reformed religion. The Catholics, till of late, scarcely 
enjoyed common toleration, and they are still excluded from 
the diet and the higher offices of State. The Swedish people 
are commended for their regularity in performing the duties 
of their religion : at the same time it has been remarked that 
the dissenters from the established church are much fewer 
than in other Protestant countries ; which has been imputed 
to the want of any peculiar fervour upon the subject. The 
wide extent and thin population of the northern districts must 
often render the provision for their religious instruction very 
defective. The diocese of Tornea, in Lapland, is seven hun- 
dred and fifty miles in circumference ; and, what is more blam- 
able, the small number of clergy, employed are not required 
to understand the language of the natives. The income of 
the largest bishopric in Sweden is only ^1000 a year. 

Sweden seems doomed by nature to be a poor country. 
Her most southern districts are beyond the limits of the tem- 
perate zone, in which alone the finer and more valuable 
kinds of grain and the richer fruits come to maturity. 
Her scanty harvest consists solely of rye, bigg, and oats, 
scarcely accounted as food in more favoured countries. 
Scandinavia may be generally described as one unbroken, 
boundless forest, varied only in aspect by little patches of 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 379 



cultivated land. The agriculture and manufactures of Swe- 
den are not of much importance ; but the commerce, which de- 
pends chiefly upon the productions of timber and iron, is 
extensive and lucrative. 

The area of Sweden is estimated at 170,528 square miles, 
and its population at 3,300,000 inhabitants.* The great 
body of the inhabitants of both Sweden and Norway are of 
the Germanic race. The Swedes are divided into four classes : 
the nobles, the ecclesiastics, the citizens, and the peasants. 

The national character is usually painted under favourable 
colours. The honesty of the Swede is proverbial ; and Dr. 
Clarke considers the contrast between them and the Russian 
people, in this respect, as most striking. Highway robbery, 
though it has been known, is exceedingly rare ; and charity 
boxes, which are often set up on the public roads, have never 
been plundered. "The nation," says Mr. James, "has its 
singularities : there exists something of a reciprocity between 
the moral and political constitution of Sweden. Rigidly cere- 
monious, they make their stiff and measured courtesies the 
essential rather than the forms of life ; and seem, in a 
stranger's eye, a people cold in their nature as the very 
snows they dwell upon. Their characteristics, a passive 
courage, not unmixed with indolence ; a pride not free from 
ignorance ; a disposition that is not ill-humoured, from hav- 
ing no humour at all, from indifference, from apathy. But a 
Swede is never in extremes ; even these traits are not deeply 
marked ; and if we review the more favourable side of his cha- 
racter, we shall find in him an undaunted spirit of perseve- 
rance, and an honest love of freedom, to which the feelings 
of every one do homage." The same writer mentions a cold- 
blooded obduracy, connected, perhaps, with a sanguinary 
turn of mind, displayed in those frequent assassinations which 
have stained the pages of Swedish history. The manners of 
the higher ranks, in consequence, perhaps, of political con- 
nection, have been studiously formed on the French model, 

* Ungewitter, 



380 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



which does not accord very happily with the somewhat rude 
simplicity of the Swedes, who find it easier to imitate the fri- 
volity and dissipation of that people, than their easy and 
careless grace. Several habits are enumerated as prevalent 
even among the higher classes in Scandinavia, which seem to 
negative its pretensions to any high pitch of refinement. 
Among these are, spitting even on handsome carpets, and 
recording games on the table with chalk. 

Education is even more general in Sweden than in Scot- 
land. The lower orders are considered much more intelli- 
gent than the same classes in the other countries of Europe. 
Sweden boasts several universities and many great names in 
science, literature, and the fine arts. Norway is as far be- 
hind in science and literature as she is ahead in her political 
system. 

The peasantry of Dalecarlia are particularly distinguished 
for their energy end determined spirit. They once restored 
the fallen monarchy ; and still hold it as a maxim that one 
Dalecarlian is equal to two other Swedes. Their diet is poor 
in the extreme, consisting in a great measure of bark bread ; 
yet their health and vigour do not suffer ; and a number of 
them who were quartered as troops at Stockholm, were af- 
fected with fevers in consequence of the repletion caused by 
eating wheaten-bread. ' The memory of Gustavus Vasa is 
cherished among the Dalecarlians with a strange enthusiasm. 

The area of Norway is estimated at 122,752 square miles, 
and its population at 1,350,000 inhabitants. It is divided 
into seventeen bailiwicks, that are subdivided into forty-five 
smaller districts, and sixty-six townships, or Sorenskrivier as 
they are styled.* The people generally lack intelligence and 
refinement, but they are patient, industrious, and persevering, 
and possess a strong love for freedom and independence. 
They may be said to enjoy more civil liberty than any of the 
European nations, except the Swiss. They can gain but little 
by a revolution. But the Swedes have much to reform. 



* Ungewitter. 



NEW YORK, N. Y 
LIBRARY 



1 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 381 



Denmark maintained a gallant conflict with Prussia, in 
1848, for the possession of the duchy of Schleswig Holstein, 
and attracted general attention to her people and institutions. 
The kingdom comprises the continent and islands between the 
North and Baltic Seas to the north of the lower Elbe and its 
mouth ; and besides them, the Faroe isles and Iceland in the 
Atlantic. Its area is estimated at 49,927 square miles, and 
its population at 1,800,000 inhabitants. Adding 3738 square 
miles, and 515,000 inhabitants as the area and population of 
the duchies of Holstein and Lauenberg, over which the Danes 
claim authority, the whole kingdom would have a total area 
of 53,665 square miles, and a total population of 2,315,000 
inhabitants.* The surface of Denmark and the neighbouring 
isles is generally level, the soil fertile, and the climate mild 
and wholesome. Agriculture, manufactures, and commerce 
are extensively carried on, and are steadily increasing in value 
and importance. Much attention is given to agriculture, and 
considerable quantities of corn and cattle are exported. 

The government of Denmark was, until recently, an un- 
limited, though not a despotic monarchy. Since 1834, how- 
ever, provincial diets, with deliberative votes, have been con- 
stituted, and a regular charter of a limited monarchy has 
been adopted. The Lutheran faith is prevalent in Denmark, 
but all others are tolerated. 

The Danes are generally quiet and industrious. The in- 
habitants of the towns, who are chiefly engaged in trade-,, 
have many qualities in common with the Dutch, and now 
form a respectable middle class, which acts as a check upon 
the power of the nobles, once so tyrannical and oppressive. 
The peasantry is still poor, though laborious, and it will pro- 
bably be a considerable time before they will be able to 
attain their true and just position in society. The nobles, no 
longer addicted to those rude and daring pursuits whidflwren- 

* Ungewitter. 



S82 THE PEOPLE OE EUROPE.' 



dered them once so formidable, live much in the style of opu- 
lent proprietors in other European countries. They are few 
in number. The power of the princes has always been exer- 
cised for the benefit of the masses in opposition to the nobles, 
and it is to the crown that the peasantry are indebted for 
their emancipation from personal slavery. Frederick VII., 
who ascended the throne of Denmark in 1848, has exerted 
himself to refine and enlighten the great body of his people. 
Every child of a certain age is now required to be sent to 
school, and the consequence is, that the mass of the people 
are becoming very intelligent. The kingdom has produced 
several highly distinguished proficients in science, literature, 
and the fine arts. 

The Danish islands, between the Cattegat and the Baltic 
Sea, and Jutland, are divided into nineteen bailiwicks, while 
Sleswick is divided into fifteen bailiwicks and forty-five privi- 
leged districts, cities, etc.* The Faroe isles and Iceland, 
which are under the authority of governors, have a hardy, 
industrious, and singularly intelligent population, descended 
from Danes and Norwegians. 

The Danish army and navy are large and efiicient, con- 
sidering the size and resources of the kingdom. The war 
footing of the army would make it amount to one hundred 
thousand men. In time of peace, it amounts to one-fourth 
that number. In 1846, the navy consisted of seven ships-of- 
the-line, eight frigates, five sloops-of-war, four brigs, four 
steamers, and six other vessels, besides eighty-two gunboats, 
etc. The sailors being all registered, no difficulty is found 
in manning the navy. 

Z^t Ettstrian iEmpire, 

The empire of Austria, which now ranks as one of the 
foremost states of Europe, includes a number of nations, 
difiering from each other in manners, customs, traditions, and 

* Ungewitter. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 383 



pursuits. To an area of two hundred and i&fty-eight thousand 
two hundred and sixty-two square miles, it has a population 
of thirty-eight millions three hundred and thirty-three thou- 
sand inhabitants, who are variously known as Germans, Scla- 
vonians, Magyars, Italians, Wallachians, Jews, Gipsies, 
Greeks, and Armenians. In regard to religion, about twenty- 
five millions are Roman Catholics, five millions Greeks, five 
millions Protestants, and one million Jews. 

In Germany, the Austrian empire comprises Upper and 
Lower Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, with the Alpine regions 
of Styria, Carinthia, and the Tyrol; in Poland several pro- 
vinces, which have been wrested by successive partitions, and 
to which it gives the name of Gallicia; the entire kingdom 
of Hungary ; and, in Italy, Venice, Milan, Mantua, and other 
territories, which have been united under the name of the 
Lombardo- Venetian kingdom. The German territories, with 
Hungary, are known under the appellation of " the Heredi- 
tary States." 

The government of Austria is an hereditary monarchy, 
almost entirely absolute. Originally the monarch enjoyed 
the title of emperor only when elected as head of the Ger- 
manic body; and his hereditary titles were Archduke of 
Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia. But when Bona- 
parte compelled Francis II. to resign the title of Emperor of 
Germany, he assumed in its stead that of Emperor of Austria. 

There are assemblies called States in all the countries 
subject to Austria, except Friuli and the military limits. 
But in general they impose no check on the prerogative of 
the monarch; and their assemblage is only for form's sake, 
or for giving assistance in some secondary branches of ad- 
ministration. In Hungary and Transylvania, however, the 
states have a share in the making of laws, and possess other 
important prerogatives ; and in the Tyrol no new tax can be 
imposed without their consent. 

Justice is administered in Austria according to recent 
codes, which were formed by Joseph II. in 1786-7, and by 
Francis II. in 1811-12. The tribunals of the first resort are 



384 THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPE: 



conducted, not by salaried judges, but by the magistrates of 
towns; and in the country by courts composed of the privi- 
leged nobility of the district. From them an appeal lies to 
colleges of justice established in the capital of each province. 

The soil is generally fertile. The best cultivated districts 
of the empire are the valley of the Danube, in the Austrian 
arch-duchy, and the plain along the Po, in Lombardy and 
Venice. Bohemia, Moravia, and Gallicia are likewise 
favoured with a fertile soil; while the extensive heaths of 
Kelzkemet and Debreczin, in Hungary, are sterile wastes. 
The vast produce of agriculture, the forests and the mines, 
supply ample materials for carrying on a lucrative inland 
commerce; while, in many sections of the empire, manufac- 
tures have made immense progress. In the means of educa- 
tion, Austria rivals any other European country. Knowledge 
is generally diffused in the empire, with the exception of 
Hungary, where the Austrian government conflicted with the 
diet in providing and regulating the necessary institutions. 
There are nine universities in the empire, at Prague, Vienna, 
Olmutz, Gratz, Innspriick, Padua, Pavia, Lemberg, and Pesth, 
and a great number of academies and common schools. The 
system of education pursued, however, is not much admired 
by those who have witnessed its operation, and who are 
acquainted with the systems established in free countries. 

The German provinces of Austria: the arch-duchy of 
Austria, Styria, Illyria, Tyrol, Bohemia, Moravia, Austrian 
Silesia, and the duchies of Anselmitz and Zotor, have a 
population of about thirteen millions of inhabitants. The arch- 
duchy of Austria, the germ of the empire, is a fertile tract of 
country, on both sides of the Danube, between Bavaria and 
Hungary proper, containing Vienna and its populous suburbs. 
In 1846, the capital had a population of about four hundred 
and thirty thousand persons, and contained many splendid 
edifices. It was strongly fortified. A more particular de- 
scription of the capital and its inhabitants is necessary to a 
complete understanding of the revolutionary events which 
have occurred there. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 385 



Vienna is seated on the southern bank of the Danube, not 
more than twenty miles from the frontier of Hungary. The 
original city does not exceed a sixth of the space covered by 
the thirty-four suburbs, which stretch in an almost intermina- 
ble extent, but are all surrounded by a wall. The body of 
the place displays a sober and solid stateliness, without 
gloom. The houses are massive and lofty; and, like those of 
Edinburgh, divided among a number of families, with a com- 
mon staircase. Every house has a master, who looks to its 
general cleanliness and security, and shuts the common door 
at ten at night. There are on an average thirty-eight men 
in every house in Vienna. The city is rendered very hand- 
some by the great number of mansions, justly entitled to the 
name of palaces, which are held by the high Austrian and 
Hungarian nobles. There are few very prominent single 
edifices. Even the original palace of the house of Hapsburg 
is represented as a collection of dissimilar and ill-assorted 
masses, added to each other as convenience dictated. That 
of Belvidere is more attractive, from its rich collections; and 
the rural palace of Schonbrunn, from its fine gardens. The 
cathedral of St. Stephen is the largest church in Germany, 
and unites all that is lofty, imposing, and sublime in Gothic 
architecture. A colossal and equestrian monument of Joseph 
II., by the German sculptor Zauner, adorns the square which 
bears that emperor's name. In other instances Austria has 
withheld this mark of gratitude from her great men : hence 
the relict of the great Marshal Laudohn, having placed a 
monument of him at his country-seat, inscribed on it: — 
" Erected, not by his country, not by his sovereign ; but by 
his widow." Vienna has a number of other churches that are 
highly ornamental, particularly that of St. Lorenzo, a Gothic 
structure of great elegance. The city is very commercial ; 
and the bustle in its streets is not equalled even in an English 
trading town. The art of efiecting a safe passage through 
them on foot, amid the crowd of carriages, hackney coaches, 
loaded wagons, and wheelbarrows, there being only a slight 
indication of foot-pavement, is said to remain a mystery even 

25 



THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 




Austrians. 



for those who have had the most extensive London experience. 
The driving a coach through with speed and safety is an at- 
tainment which the most skilful coachman from other cities 
cannot attain without very long practice. 

Vienna is not a literary city, and is perhaps the largest 
that exists without an academy either of science or belles let- 
tres. Yet there are few that contain more extensive collec- 
tions of books, paintings, and objects of natural history, both 
in the royal palaces and the houses of the nobles. The cen- 
sorship of the press is maintained with the utmost rigour ; and 
the great object of the court seems to be, that nothing shall 
appear which can in the smallest degree ^-eflect upon the im- 
perial house or government. Mr. Russell even reports of the 
Emperor Ferdinand, that, when treating of some seminary of 
education, he observed, "I do not want learned men; I want 
men that will do what I bid them." The drama in Vienna, 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 387 



as over all Germany, is a favourite amusement ; but none of 
the leading dramatic writers belong to that city, which ranks, 
however, as the musical capital of Germany, and even of the 
world. If some of those whose names distinguish its harmonic 
annals were not native, at least they found there the patronage 
by which their exertions were excited, and their talents de- 
veloped. 

The manners of the people of Vienna are the subject only 
of qualified encomium. They are described as a more eating, 
drinking, good-natured, ill-educated, laughing, and hospitable 
people, than any other of Germany, or perhaps of Europe. 
In regard to themselves, they are distinguished by a love of 
pleasure ; in regard to strangers, by great kindness and hos- 
pitality. The pleasures of the table seem to be prized in a 
very especial manner. The most profound skill is attributed 
to the cooks of Vienna; and Dr. Townson even expresses ap- 
prehension that a scarcity of the livers of geese, their favourite 
dish, might endanger the tranquillity of the empire. The citi- 
zens are seen in crowded parties of pleasure on the ramparts, 
and in the fine wooded public walk, called the Prater, between 
the city and the Danube. This eager pursuit of pleasure is 
unfortunately not always confined within the bounds of inno- 
cence. The dancing balls, to which persons of every class are 
admitted, attract a large proportion, at least, of the most 
profligate. Mr. Russell has not hesitated to make a charge 
of general dissoluteness ; and adds, that there is not a female 
in Vienna who will not increase her means of amusement and 
show by the sacrifice of her virtue. M. Sherer, however, 
"who scans his nature with a brother's eye," argues that the 
scum which floats on the sm-face must not be too partially 
taken as the criterion of the whole composition. The family 
parties in the Prater appeared to him to show rather an air 
of quiet and natural cheerfulness, than of dissolute gay ety; 
while the neatness and care with which the children were 
dressed, their smiling and happy countenances, seemed by no 
means to bespeak parental profligacy. They appeared to him 



388 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE; 



altogetlier an honest, affectionate, cheerful, frank, and obliging 
race. 

Upper Austria is entirely a mountain region, an assemblage 
of lofty alps and glaciers, separated by valleys, and even by 
small plains, and presenting landscapes, sometimes soft and 
pleasing, sometimes in the highest degree wild and romantic. 
These mountains consist of the main body of the Noric, and 
the borders of the Rhsetian Alps. It is needless to say that 
the country is little fitted for agricultural purposes ; yet there 
is no district of Germany which has been improved with 
greater diligence. Of 3,287,264 jochs, of which this rugged 
surface consists, not more than an eleventh part is abandoned 
to absolute waste. There are 837,000 arable acres, 1,167,000 
pasture, and 969,000 wood. The quantity of grain produced 
is about 9,000,000 bushels. The chief branch of husbandry, 
however, is pasturage, and the meadows of Upper Austria are 
reckoned superior to any other in Germany. 

The people are very laborious and persevering, and appear 
cheerful and contented. The towns are of considerable size, 
and are noted for the skill of their manufacturing population. 

Steyermark, or Styria, is a considerable inland territory, 
immediately to the south of Lower Austria, once governed by 
its own dukes, but long since absorbed in the empire. It is 
divided into Upper and Lower Styria ; the former of which, 
being the western part, is altogether alpine ; while the eastern 
districts decline into lower mountains, then into gentle hills, 
and finally into almost a level plain, on the borders of Hun- 
gary. The Mur, which crosses Styria from west to east, and 
passes through Hungary into the Danube, is a broad and 
rapid stream ; but its navigation is so obstructed, that it is 
only useful for floating down the timber made into rafts, which 
are often dashed to pieces. The Drave, the Save, the Raab, 
and the Ens water particular parts of Syria. Of the 3,800,000 
jochs of which it consists, about 1,500,000 are woodland; 
1,080,000 pasture; only 558,000 arable; 50,000 vineyard. 
The grain is chiefly maize, (used for cattle, and bread for 
the lower orders,) rye, and buck-wheat : and the annual pro- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 389 



duce is estimated, by Kindermann, at 7,800,000 bushels. 
Flax, hemp, and potatoes are general. The wine is reckoned 
at 1,000,000 eimers, and is stronger and more fiery than the 
Austrian. But the most valuable produce is that of the mines 
in the upper province, which are various ; but the most con- 
siderable is very fine iron, peculiarly fit for being formed into 
steel. Besides the numerous furnaces employed in extracting 
the ore, there are large manufactures of scythes, sickles, and 
chopping-knifes ; a great part of the iron also is worked up in 
Austria, and is even exported to England and France. Of 
the eastern province, a considerable extent is occupied, not 
by German inhabitants, but by the Winden, a rude Sclavonian 
race, who do not understand the language of the Germans, 
and live in a much poorer and ruder manner. 

The kingdom of lUyria was formed by Napoleon, after the 
peace of Presburg, when he had compelled Austria to cede to 
him the whole south-eastern angle of Germany, Carinthia, 
Carniola, and Friuli ; to which he annexed part of Croatia, 
and the Tyrol. When all these territories returned under the 
dominion of Austria, she still retained the newly created king- 
dom, only severing from it the last two appendages. The 
kingdom, thus modified, contains a superficial extent of 13,590 
square miles, according to Blumenbach, but only 13,480, ac- 
cording to Lichtenstein. This region is extremely mountain- 
ous and rugged, though the highest chains are on the frontier 
of Upper Austria and Syria, where Illyria claims a part of 
the stupendous mass of the Gross Glockner. Its own proper 
chains are those of the Carniolan and Julian Alps, which 
cover the greater part of the territory, of which the loftiest 
pinnacles do not in general rise above 6500 feet. The large 
stream of the Drave passes through Carinthia, and that of 
the Save through Carniola, into Hungary. The rugged sur- 
face of Illyria is, in many places, very ill-fitted for corn, of 
which it however produces 9,000,000 bushels, chiefly of the 
courser kinds, rye and oats. There is a good deal of flax, and 
a little hemp and silk. Cattle are fed in great numbers, and 
sheep in the more bare and rocky tracts round the Adriatic. 



390 



THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE; 




Styrians and Illyrians, 



Lead is produced more copiously than in any other part of 
the empire, (about 2000 tons,) and mercury more abundantly 
than in any part of Europe, (640 tons ;) iron 17,500 tons, and 
considerable quantities of antimony, alum, vitriol, coal, and 
salt. The chief branch of manufacture is that of working in 
metals, iron poles, wire, scissors, sickles, hooks, &c. There 
is also a good deal of linen, and some woollen. The foreign 
commerce is considerable : the only sea-ports in the Austro- 
German territories, Trieste and Fiume, are situated in Illyria. 

Illyria contains about 4,357,000 inhabitants, who possess 
the same general characteristics as the Styrians. 

The earldom of Tyrol contains 11,140 square miles and 
900,000 inhabitants.* It is a thoroughly mountainous 



* Ungemtter. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 391 




Tyrolese. 

country, between Switzerland and Upper Austria, and be- 
tween Bavaria and Italy, and is crossed by branches of the 
Alps, and by the Rivers Inn, Adige, and Eisack. 

Agricultural industry cannot flourish on such a. surface; 
as, of 1,500,000 jochs, only a tenth can be subjected to the 
plough, and then only rye, wheat, and barley can be grown. 
The Tyrolese, however, have made all that was possible out 
of their rugged soil. They have a great store of horned 
cattle and sheep ; valuable gardens, from which apples are 
sent even to Russia ; good wine, though it will not keep ; 
some tobacco; wood, and salt in abundance. The other 
mineral productions are in considerable variety, but of no 



392 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



great amount. The national character of the Tyrolese is ex- 
cellent. They are honest, sincere, and open-hearted. Their 
attachment to their country, to its independence, and to the 
house of Austria, has been displayed in the most heroic man- 
ner. The exploits -which their undisciplined and almost un- 
armed bands performed in the war of 1814, form one of the 
brightest pages of modern history. They are almost all 
Catholics; but their religion, according to this creed, is 
genuine and sincere. Their enterprising industry is strik- 
ingly displayed by the boldness with which they mount the 
steepest cliffs, and are thence let down by ropes, in order to 
cultivate like a garden a little spot that to a stranger would 
appear inaccessible. The towns of the Tyrol are Innspriick, 
the capital; an ancient, well built, and considerable place, 
commanding the valley of the Inn, and the most direct pas- 
sage from Germany into Italy. Hither the Emperor Ferdi- 
nand fled in 1848. Halle, farther down on the same, flour- 
ishes by large mines of salt. Kuffstein is important as a 
military position. Trent, on the Adige, and near the borders 
of Italy, is a fine old city, celebrated for the ecclesiastical 
council held there in 1545-1562, which had so signal an in- 
fluence on the political destinies of Europe. Roveredo, still 
farther down, and almost Italian, carries on some silk manu- 
factures. Botzen, or Bolsano, has a crowded market, where the 
German and Italian merchants exchange the commodities 
of their respective countries. Brixen, Bregenz, Feldkirch, 
(the last two in the Voralberg, and on the borders of Swit- 
zerland,) are also of some consequence. 

The kingdom of Bohemia, the most considerable of the 
German provinces of Austria, has an area of 20,096 square 
miles, and 4,600,000 inhabitants. The Emperor of Austria 
has been hereditary King of Bohemia since 1547. The 
country is an extensive plain, surrounded hj a ring of moun- 
tains, some of which are five thousand feet in height. It is 
amply stocked with all kinds of solid and useful commodities. 
Grain, cattle, timber, and metals are all in such plenty that 
it is difficult to say which predominates. Fishing is carried on 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 



393 




Bohemians. 



very actively in this inland region, by means of ponds, which 
are said to be 20,000 in number. Manufactures are exten- 
sive and profitable. 

Two-thirds of the inhabitants of Bohemia belong! to the 
Chechs, a branch of the Sclavonian race. The remainder is 
made up of Germans and Jews. The Bohemians were the 
first people in Europe who maintained a contest for united 
civil and religious liberty. The bulk of the nation has been 
of the Protestant belief since the days of John Huss, but it 
has frequently been compelled to make a public confession of 
adhesion to Rome. Amid numerous convulsions, the civil 
rights for which the Bohemians contended have been swept 
away, and they now retain but a semblance of national states ; 



394 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE : 



but all varieties of religious creed are tolerated. It is re- 
marked, that there is little appearance of the wealth Bohemia 
actually contains. The nobles possess immense estates, 
firmly secured by entail and other legal provisions ; but they 
spend their fortunes chiefly in profuse pomp and luxury at 
Vienna. The mass of the people are laborious and frugal, 
but are only tolerably provided. Without their expensive 
aristocracy, they would be happy and contented. 

Prague, the capital of Bohemia, is situated on the Molden 
river, one hundred and sixty miles north-west of Vienna. It 
is strongly fortified, has 114,000 inhabitants, and is one of 
the most important trading and manufactm-ing cities in the 
Austrian empire. Its bridge,, its old Gothic cathedral on a 
hill, the vast and decaying palaces of the ancient nobles, the 
old style of architecture in the private mansions, unite to give 
it an antique and characteristic grandeur. In the cathedral 
is particularly distinguished the magnificent silver shrine, 
which has survived the wars of centuries. Among the vast 
forsaken palaces may be distinguished that of Wallenstein, 
the frescoes of which are still bright ; and that of Czermin, 
still more vast, but quite dilapidated. Prague appeared, on 
the whole, to Mr. Sherer, more picturesque and more impres- 
sive than Vienna. The trade of the kingdom centres very 
much in Prague ; and three great annual fairs are held there. 
The city is kept very clean, but indifierently lighted, and 
some of its streets are unpaved. 

Bohemia has a number of little towns of from two thou- 
sand to five thousand inhabitants, but no great cities, except 
its capital. We may mention Budweis, Pilsen, Konigsgratz, 
a strong place on the Silesian frontier ; Eger, a military posi- 
tion on the side of Franconia; Tabor, founded by the Hus- 
sites, who gave it this scriptural name ; .Toplitz, celebrated 
for its baths. The manufactures are chiefly carried on in 
small towns and villages, and do not accumulate in the 
larger cities. 

In Bohemia, as in most of the Austrian countries, the mili- 
tary, clergy, nobility, and public functionaries are very 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 



395 




numerous, and particularly well provided for, wMle the arti- 
sans and the peasantry, who are looked upon merely in the 
light of slaves, toil and sweat to hut little purpose, as far as 
concerns themselves. With a better system of government, the 
kingdom might become great and powerful, and realize the 
dreams of the statesmen Avho seek to unite the Sclavonian 



race. 



Moravia is a country of less extent than Bohemia, but of 
nearly similar aspect, and equally fertile. It has a frontier 
of mountains, which separate it from Bohemia, Hungary, and 
Poland. Austrian Silesia is included in Moravia. The total 
area is 10,607 square miles, and the population amounts to 
2,310,000 inhabitants, who are principally of the Sclavonian 
race. The Moravians are chiefly engaged in manufactures, 
though agriculture is pursued to a considerable extent. Vast 



596 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



quantities of cotton and woollen goods are annually produced. 
Brunn, a strong fortress, is the capital, but Iglan is the 
greatest thoroughfare in Moravia. Olmutz is a great market 
for Prussian and Hungarian cattle. Though generally well 
provided, the people are not cheerful or contented. A jealousy 
exists between the Sclavonians and the Germans, which seem 
irremediable, and which produces constant bickerings. 

The duchies of Auschwitz and Zator are situated between 
Feschen and Cracow. They have an area of 1,491 square 
miles, and 365,000 inhabitants.* The people are chiefly en- 
gaged in agriculture, but manufactures also engage their at- 
tention in one or two towns. The capitals of the duchies 
are the small towns of Auschwitz and Zator. 

The kingdom of Gallicia and Lodomeria is the name Aus- 
tria gives to her portion of Poland. It has an area of 
32,908 square miles, and about 4,950,000 inhabitants. The 
surface of the country is level, and the soil is tolerably fer- 
tile. Extensive mines of salt are found in various sections. 
A large portion of the population is engaged in manufac- 
tures, but agriculture and the salt mines occupy the ma- 
jority. 

A representative assembly is allowed Gallicia, but its 
powers are very limited. The states consist of four orders : 
the clergy, the nobility, the knights, and the representatives 
of cities. They meet annually ; but the imposition of taxes 
and the making of laws, the two great primary functions of 
a national assembly, do not lie within their competence. 
They are allowed, however, some concern in the distribution 
of the land tax and the mode of levying the troops, though 
the amount of both is fixed by the sovereign. The Poles of 
Gallicia belong to the Sclavonic race, which occupies so great 
a tract of country in central Europe. They have emerged 
more than the others from the generally rude and unimproved 
state which characterizes this race ; remaining, however, far 
in arrear of the Teutonic and other western nations. The 

* Ungewitter. 



THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 897 



feudal system, broken up in the greater part of western Eu- 
rope, exists here in almost undiminished operation. So- 
ciety consists altogether of two distinct and distant orders, 
the nobles and the peasantry, without any intermediate de- 
grees. The nobles, who are more numerous than in any 
other country in Europe, have always, in the eye of the pub- 
lic, formed the people of Poland. They are brave, prompt, 
frank, hospitable, and gay. They have been called the 
French of the north ; and, both from habits and political con- 
nection, are attached to that nation. On the contrary, they 
regard the Germans with mingled contempt and aversion ; 
calling them Niemic, or dumb, in contrast with their own 
fluency and loquacity. Before their fall, their neighbours 
called them "the proud Poles." They consider it the deepest 
disgrace to practise any profession, even law or medicine ; 
and, in case of utmost necesssity, even prefer the plough. 
The luxury of modern times, and the variations in the price 
of grain, have very generally involved them in pecuniary 
embarrassments, and placed many of their fortunes in the 
hands of Jews. The Jews, sober, industrious, parsimonious, 
crafty, form a numerous and separate people in the heart of 
the Polish territories. Once a year occur what are called 
the Polish contracts, when the nobles repair to the principal 
towns, to sell their lands, pay their interest, and negotiate all 
their money transactions. Hither their wives and daughters 
resort for amusement ; speculators bring their wares ; usurers, 
musicians, strolling-players, sharpers, courtesans,- come to ply 
their respective trades. The Poles, in personal appearance, 
are handsome and vigorous, though subject to that loathsome 
and sometimes dangerous disorder called the plica polonica. 
The Polish ladies are celebrated for their beauty, and are 
considered also more intelligent and agreeable than those of 
Russia. The peasantry are not absolute slaves, but they are 
raised little above that degrading condition ; an estate being 
usually estimated by the number of its peasants. 

The religion of Gallicia, contrary to that which prevails in 
the great body of the Sclavonic nations, is Roman Catholic. 



398 THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 



This is, perhaps, one main cause of a higher civilization ; for 
the catholic religion, though, in comparison with the pro- 
testant, it be unfavourable to intelligence and improvement, 
has an opposite character when compared with that of the 
Greek church. Preaching has always formed an essential 
part of its worship, which gives it a decided superiority over 
a system which excludes that mode of instruction, and deals 
merely in a round of childish ceremonies. The numerous 
body of the Jews, of course, profess their national faith. 

The universities of Poland have enjoyed considerable re- 
putation : that of Cracow, three centuries ago, was one of the 
most flourishing in Europe : it not only attracted crowds of 
native students, but drew others from all the neighbouring 
kingdoms. The distracted state of the country, with the 
rising reputation of the German seminaries, gradually thinned 
their number ; and the final blow was struck by its subjection 
to Austria, which introduced the German language, of all 
other things the most abhorrent to the Poles. A revival seemed 
to be promised, by the arrangement which fixed Cracow as an 
independent republic ; but this expectation has not yet been 
fulfilled. 

The amusements and mode of life among the higher ranks 
are chiefly copied from the other nations of Europe, particu- 
larly the French. The Polish dances, however, are strictly 
national, and very graceful. That, especially, called the 
Polonaise is marked by a slow majesty of movement, which 
has been remarked as worthy of a nation who elected their 
kings. The Poles have a singular manner of shaving the 
head, leaving only a tuft of hair on the crown, and musta- 
chios are generally worn. 

Lemberg, the capital, which has 75,000 inhabitants — one- 
fourth Jews — and Cracow, which has 45,000 inhabitants are 
the chief towns in Gallicia. 

Hungary, called by the Germans Ungarn, with Transyl- 
vania, Sclavonia, and Croatia, forms nearly a square, of 400 
miles in each direction. The total area of the kingdom is 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 399 



88,267 square miles, and the total population 11,017,600 in- 
habitants. 

The great mountain girdle of the Carpathians ranges 
nearly in a semicircle round the northern and eastern border 
of Hungary. Several connected chains penetrate into the 
heart of the country, of which the most elevated are those 
of Tatra and Matra ; the Julian Alps, and the mountains of 
the Bannat, on the southern border, render a great part of 
the country at least very hilly. On the other hand, there 
are plains of almost boundless extent, such as that to the 
east of the Danube, watered by the Theiss, which covers a 
space of upAvard of 22,000 square miles ; and another to the 
west of that river, reaching to the borders of Styria. Hun- 
gary, protected by the Carpathians from the blasts of the 
north, and sloping downward to the south, enjoys a milder 
climate than any part of Germany. On the Carpathian ter- 
races, particularly, the richest wines, and the choicest pro- 
ductions of southern Europe, are raised in perfection. There 
is a vast variety of country, however ; many tracts being 
naked and rocky, others covered with marshes, and some even 
forming deserts of barren sand. The rivers of Hungary are 
very important. The Danube, making a grand circuit, rolls 
through it, chiefly from north to south, and receives here its 
mightiest tributaries. The Drave and the Save, from the 
east, bring to it all the waters of the great Alpine border of 
southern Germany. The Theiss, after collecting, in a coursc- 
of four hundred miles, nearly all the streams which flow from 
the Carpathians, falls in from the east, near the southern 
frontier. The Maros is the greatest tributary of the Theiss ; 
and the Gran and the Waag are considerable streams, which 
flow into the Danube itself. The lakes of Hungary are nu- 
merous, but only two are large ; the Platon or Balaton, which 
receives the waters of nine streams, and is supposed to pour 
them under ground into the Danube ; and the Neuisiedler, 
the water of which is salt. The long and sluggish streams 
of the Theiss and the Maros spread into wide morasses, which, 
acted on by the rays of a burning sun, exhale pestilential va- 



400 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



pours, often more fatal than the sword to the armies which 
have been led into their vicinity. 

Of the population, more than five millions belong to the 
Sclavonic tribe, four millions are Magyars, and the remainder 
is made up chiefly of Germans. The Magyars have held the 
same relation to the other races that the Normans did to the 
Saxons, after the conquest of England by. William of Nor- 
mandy. The great body of the aristocracy belong to that 
race. Since 1848, the peasantry have enjoyed a degree of 
freedom and independence never before known to them. 
Their emancipation was a measure of justice long delayed, 
in consequence of the selfishness of the nobility. When a 
mighty spirit arose in the person of the illustrious Kossuth, 
the deliverance of the tiller of the soil was its first great 
object. Still, in consequence of the backwardness of all kinds 
of industry in Hungary, and the heavy burden of taxation, 
the mass of the people cannot be said to be in an enviable 
cojidition. 

The political relations of Hungary, considered as a member 
of the Austrian empire, have been touched upon in our account 
of the 1 struggle for independence in 1848-49. 

The kingdom is now hereditary in the Austrian dynasty ; 
but, in case that should become extinct, the right of choice 
would return to the nation. The Hungarian Diet possesses 
high prerogatives. Without their vote the king cannot make 
or change the laws, impose taxes, or even levy troops. Every 
new king, before his coronation, must take an oath to maintain 
the constitution of Hungary. The diet consists of four states 
or orders: — 1. The bishops and abbots. 2. The magnates 
or great nobles. 3. The knights. 4. The free cities.- The 
two former appear in person, and constitute what is called 
the magnate table ; the two latter, who form what is called 
the state table, appear by their representatives. The diet 
assembles every three years, at Presburg or Buda, and sits 
during the king's pleasure. If three of the orders agree to 
any proposition, the fourth must give its consent. 

In the administration, the body of the people, with the 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 401 



exception of those who form part of the corporations in the 
free cities, have no share : a circumstance of which advantage 
is taken to throw upon them the whole burden of taxation, 
from which the nobles and clergy have held themselves 
exempt. 

Hungary is wanting in the means of education. Latin is, 
in some places, the ordinary language among gentlemen, and 
many of the nobles are highly educated. But the diet differs 
Avith the Austrian government in regard to the language to 
be taught in the common schools, and, consequently, few 
have been set in operation. The peasantry have been kept 
in a woful state of ignorance, and all interests have suffered 
thereby. The rigorous press laws enforced by the Austrian 
government have been another drawback upon the means of 
information. In regard to religious worship, full freedom 
has long been established in Hungary, and all Christian pro- 
fessions are considered equal in the eye of the law. The 
Catholics are most numerous and powerful; and it is com- 
plained that they are disposed to be intolerant. 

In character, the nobles of Hungary are known to be 
brave, intelligent, and hardy, devotedly attached to ancient 
privileges and customs, and bitterly opposed to every thing 
of a German cast. 

The amusements of the body of the people consist chiefly 
of some national dances, particularly on occasion of the 
vintage, which is a season of unbounded gayety. The 
national military dress, being the same commonly denomi- 
nated hussar, is picturesque and martial, and has been imi- 
tated by the other European nations. The peasantry wear 
a broad-brimmed, varnished hat, with a low rounded crown; 
they have their matted long black hair negligently plaited 
or tied in knots, a blue jacket and trousers, covered with a 
cloak of coarse woollen cloth or sheepskin, still retaining its 
wool. They live in small villages, or rather clusters of cot- 
tages, arranged on each side of a muddy road, whitewashed, 
roofed with thatch, but the interior containing, generally,, 
three tolerably comfortable apartments. 

26 



402 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



We shall now speak more particularly of the Various 
portions of Hungary. 

Upper Hungary is divided into two parts by the Danube. 
That on the north of the river is the njost important; and 
contains both the leading capitals and the great mining dis- 
tricts of Schemnitz and Kremnitz. 

Presburg, established in 1536, as the place where the kings 
were to be crowned, and the diets to be held, passes often as 
the capital of Hungary, though it is neither so large nor so 
handsome a city as Buda. Csaplovicz estimates its popu- 
lation at about thirty-two thousand. The houses and 
streets are ordinary in their appearance ; and the suburbs 
only can boast a few palaces of the nobles. The castle over- 
looks the very extensive plain in which the city stands. 
Presburg has a few manufactures, and a considerable trade, 
chiefly in corn and wine, up and down the Danube. There 
is a laro-e Lutheran seminary, attended by about five hundred 
students. 

Buda, or Ofen, and Pesth, separated by the Danube, form, 
in conjunction, by much the most important city in Hungary. 
Buda, on the right bank, is the first in dignity, being now 
the seat of government, which was transferred thither by 
Joseph II. from Presburg, in 1784. It consists chiefly of an 
extensive fortress seated on a lofty rock, somewhat resembling 
the castle of Edinburgh, and containing the houses of the 
Palatine and of some of the principal nobility. Along the 
foot of the castle several streets extend upon the river. One 
of the most remarkable features consists of the baths, which 
are ancient, and of Turkish construction. The citizens re- 
sort to them in crowds, exhibiting themselves in a ..very 
unscrupulous state of nudity. Pesth, on the opposite bank, 
is a larger and now more important city, forming the centre 
of the inland trade of Hungary. Four ipamense fairs are 
held there, which ^present an epitome both of the people and 
productions of the country. The native products are chiefly 
sold without the city, on both sides of a long road, as they 
arrive in the wagons, disposed for that purpose so as to form 



404 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE I 



a species of square enclosure. An immense space is covered 
with horses, sheep, and cattle, the latter often amounting to 
thirty thousand. The goods brought down from Vienna are 
displayed in a large open space within the town, and in ranges 
of booths, which are penetrated by two broad streets crossing 
each other at right angles, and by other smaller streets and 
passages. The Danube, also, for the space of half a mile, is 
covered with boats and barges, which, with the banks, serve 
as a market-place for the goods. For recreation are prepared 
various sights, puppet-shows, fruits, especially water melons 
in immense quantities, and refreshments cooked and presented 
by the gipsies. Great commercial roads branch oflf from 
Pesth through every part of the country, and toward Austria, 
Moravia, Gallicia, Transylvania, Croatia, and Italy. Pesth 
contains ninety thousand inhabitants, and Buda forty-five 
thousand, making in all one hundred and thirty-five thousand. 
Pesth is chiefly modern, and well built; containing many 
good streets and handsome houses, besides churches. There 
is considerable magnificence in the grenadier's caserne, built 
by Charles VI., and in a large unfinished edifice, raised by 
Joseph II., which Townson calls a palace; but Bright does 
not think it possible to say what it is. The national uni- 
versity, already mentioned, is in Pesth. The city is without 
walls, and is connected with Buda by a bridge of forty-seven 
boats, which are movable, and through which, at stated times, 
an opening is made to allow the passage of vessels and rafts. 
In winter it is taken down, and the two cities communicate 
over the ice. 

The mining capitals, Schemnitz, Kremnitz, and Neusatz, 
are situated on the declivities of a bold and mountainous 
country, forming a lower ridge of the Carpathians. Schem- 
nitz, the great centre of the mining operations, is in a position 
peculiarly rugged, the streets being built along the sides of 
hills, and separated from each other by cliffs and woods : a 
large number of its inhabitants are employed in the mines. 
The town was founded in 745 ; but it was Maria Theresa who 
established the mining college, which is conducted on a very 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 405 



liberal footing; comprehends lectures on every branch of 
natural knowledge; and is attended, even in bad times, by 
two hundred or three hundred students. The mines have 
been already noticed. The water is drained off by a subter- 
raneous stream of about twelve miles in length, which empties 
itself into the river Gran. Kremnitz, is only about half the 
size, and has a more straggling and neglected appearance ; 
though one of its churches is very profusely ornamented. 
Neusol, about the size of Gran, is supported by the copper- 
mines, and has a large manufactory of arms in its vicinity. 

That part of Lower Hungary which lies to the south-west of 
the Danube, enclosed between that river and the Austrian 
and Illyrian frontiers, contains also a number of places of 
considerable importance. (Edenburg, sometimes spelt and 
pronounced Edinburg, is finely situated in a country varie- 
gated with wooded and vine-covered hills, which surround the 
great lake of the Neusiedler Sea. There is more manufac- 
turing industry than in most Hungarian towns ; but still it 
owes its main prosperity to its position ; being the route by 
which supplies of provisions are conveyed from Hungary to 
Vienna. For this purpose forty thousand cattle, and eighty 
thousand hogs are annually brought to its markets. There 
is also a great trade in wine, of which thirty-two thousand 
eimers are produced in its neighbourhood ; and we trust 
there is little ground for the allegation of Debretzki, that the 
young ladies who are employed in the sale of it partake rather 
too copiously of this beverage. (Edenburg has also in its 
neighbourhood a mine of coal, which yields about twelve 
thousand tons annually. Raab, on the river of the same 
name, near its junction with the Danube, celebrated as a 
fortress, is more noted for its fairs and markets. Komorn, 
at the junction of the Danube and the Waag, is still more 
celebrated for its great strength ; and so early as the year 
1272 it was considered one of the bulwarks of the Austrian 
monarchy. Its situation gives it still a considerable trade ; 
Stuhlweissemberg, in the heart of this marshy district, was 
anciently a splendid town and a royal residence, called Alba 



406 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



Regalis. For five centuries the kings of Hungary were 
crowned and their remains deposited here. Since the begin- 
ning of the last century, it has been entirely neglected ; and 
though there are a number of buildings which bear the stamp 
of grandeur it is but a poor and mean place. 

Upper Hungary consists of a vast range of territory, ex- 
tending from the Danube to the eastern boundaries of the 
kingdom. The hills and mountains of the northern part 
being finely watered, produce in the highest perfection those 
delicious wines for which Hungary is so famous. The south- 
ern *part consists of one unvaried and almost unlimited plain, 
through which flows the Theiss, which traverses Upper Hun- 
gary from north to south. This plain consists, in some 
places, of barren sand blown into hillocks ; in others, of im- 
mense expanses of fine pasturage covered with numberless 
flocks and herds ; while a great part of the tract immediately 
bordering on the Theiss is marshy and inundated. 

Debretzin, or Debreczin, for extent and importance, takes 
decidedly the lead of all places in Upper or Eastern Hungary ; 
yet it may be called an enormous village, rather than a city, 
or even a town. Population about sixty thousand. The 
houses, with scarcely any exceptions, are mere cottages, one 
story high, roofed Avith thatch, and arranged on no regular 
plan. There is no pavement, and in the most frequented quar- 
ters the passenger flounders through sand and mud. Instead 
of a wall, it is surrounded by a hedge, and the town-gates are, 
like our field-gates, stuck with thorns and brambles. The 
greater part of the inhabitants are Calvinists ; and by their 
plain attire, their simple deportment, the stillness and ear- 
nestness which sits upon every countenance, give a character 
to the place very difi"erent from that of a gay capital ; yet, 
next to Pesth, it is the most commercial town in the kingdom. 
Every quarter of a year there is a market, when a space of 
ground which the eye can scarcely command is covered with 
flocks and wagons, bales and cases, tents and huts. A fine 
species of soap made here is considered a luxury even at 
Vienna ; and a great deal of saltpetre is manufactured. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 407 



Among other towns of Upper Hungary must be mentioned 
Orosswardien, to the east of Debretzin. It is a pretty fron- 
tier town of the district of Hungary inhabited by the Walla- 
chians. The inhabitants , unlike those of Debretzin, are 
particularly gay ; music and dancing are heard in every 
house ; and there are four warm baths, to which the inhabit- 
ants resort for pleasure as well as health. Kaschan, in the 
northern hilly country, is called by Townson the metropohs 
of Upper Hungary, but does not seem to be at present con- 
sidered in that light, nor can it any way rival Debretzin. 
The principal street is broad and pretty regular, adorned 
with some good houses of the nobility, an elegant coffee-house, 
and a fine Gothic church. At about a day's journey is a 
mountain which produces that fine stone, the true opal, which, 
as some suspect, is found nowhere else in the world; those 
called the oriental being alleged to be all brought from this 
mine. Erlau, or Agria, a larger town, but ill-built, is the 
seat of a richly endowed archbishopric ; one of the late in- 
cumbents of which, otherwise not much extolled by Townson, 
founded a very handsome college. Mischkoks is also a large 
town in the same neighbourhood, in a rich wine and fruit 
country, of which it collects the products. Tokay is only a 
village ; and the surrounding district is only one of a number 
producing the celebrated wine already mentioned, which bears 
its name. Szegedin, farther down the Theiss, at its junction 
with the great tributary of the Maros, is a large and strong 
city, a flourishing trade in wool and tobacco, of which 60,000 
cwt. are sent down the Danube; salt from Transylvania, and 
cotton from Macedonia. 

Croatia is a district which, though possessing a people and 
language of its own, has for some time been attached to 
Hungary, and sends deputies to the Hungarian diet. Since 
the re-annexation of Carlstadt, which a long time formed 
part of the kingdom of Illyria, it extends over 3356 square 
miles, and contains about 370,000 inhabitants. The district 
of Carlstadt, on the Illyrian frontier, is mountainous ; but 
westward the country declines into a level plain, traversed by 



408 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE : 



the Save. Corn, cattle of small size, and tobacco of good 
quality, are its staples. The Croats form bodies of light 
horse rather distinguished in irregular warfare. Agram is a 
large and strong town, on the Save, without manufactures, 
but with a good deal of trade, both on the river between 
Hungary and the Adriatic. Varesdin and Carlstadt are 
smaller places, deriving some importance from being in this 
last line of commerce. 

Sclavonia is a district to the east of Croatia, and the only 
one bearing the name of a nation whose colonies and language 
are so widely diffused. It enjoys a mild climate and fertile 
territory, yet more than half of its surface, of 3478 square 
miles, is covered Avith wood, and the rest is by no means cul- 
tivated to the extent of which it is capable. Its political re- 
lations are in many respects the same as those of Croatia ; 
its products and trade similar, and it is equally destitute of 
manufacturing industry. Posega is accounted the capital ; 
but Essek, a strong place on the Drave, near its junction with 
the Danube, is of more importance. 

Transylvania, meaning the country beyond the Carpathian 
hill forests, and called by the Germans Siebenburgen, (a 
name brought by German colonists from Siebengebirge, near 
the Rhine,) is a very elevated territory: the Carpathians, 
which enclose it in the form of a half moon, present summits 
of seven or eight thousand feet. To the height of five thou- 
sand feet they are covered with wood, but beyond that height 
they are rugged and alpine. The mountains are perforated 
by numerous caves. There are many little lakes ; and the 
morass of Kovaszna is remarkable for its almost unfathom- 
able depth. Notwithstanding its rugged surface, Transyl- 
vania has a mild climate, and is well cultivated. Its products 
in grain is reckoned about eighteen millions of bushels. 
Cattle form a principal staple : the flesh of the oxen is good ; 
but the milch cows are not of great excellence, and the wool 
of the sheep is coarse. Wine is produced in abundance, to 
the extent of 3,640,000 eimers, according to Blumenbach; 
but, as it does not keep, it is not an object of trade. Tran- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 409 



sylvania is rich in minerals, particularly gold, of which it 
yields 2750 marks ; also 3500 tons of iron. It might supply 
the whole empire with salt ; and sends, in fact, 25,000 tons 
into Hungary. The miners, chiefly German, amounted, in 
1791, to 4528. There are no manufactures, except the most 
common fabrics. The people consist almost entirely of 
strangers, who have immigrated from the neighbouring and 
distant countries. Lichtenstein reckons one-half are Magyars 
and the other half Szcklers. The protestants predominate in 
Transylvania. The religious professions have each semina- 
ries for rearing their respective students ; and there are two 
societies for the culture of the Hungarian language and his- 
tory, both established by Count George Banky. Hermstadt, 
situated in the Saxon district, is considered the capital. 

The military frontier is a long range of territory, appro- 
priated from the southern border of Croatia, Sclavonia, Hun- 
gary, and Transylvania, and placed under a peculiar regime, 
in the view of forming a barrier upon this side against the 
inroads of the Turks. For this purpose it is placed under a 
system completely feudal, all the lands being held under the 
condition that their occupants take the field in person when- 
ever they may be called upon. Each individual receives a 
certain number of acres, which cannot be sold, pledged, or 
dismembered, though it may be exchanged for another of 
equal amount. That his fields may not sufier when he is 
called out, the inhabitants are divided into families of about 
sixty, at the head of whom is a directing patriarch, and 
among whom the culture and produce of the land is in com- 
mon, each family, according to the number that it has sent out, 
and their length or service, having allowances or remission of 
taxes of twelve guilders a head. The country is divided, not 
into provinces, but into regiments; the Carlstadt regiment, 
the Gradisca regiment, &c. This singular arrangement began 
with Croatia, in 1566, and ended with Transylvania in 1764. 
Of late its chief use has been to form a cordon for preventing 
the irruption of the plague. This frontier partakes physi- 
cally and morally of the peculiarities of all the countries and 



410 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



all the people from which it is served. The industry is 
chiefly pastoral, not much more than a fourth of the lands 
being under the plough. The cities are called Free Military 
Communities ; Semlin, in the Sclavonic frontier is the largest. 
Peterwardein, Brod, and Gradisca are strongly fortified little 
towns. 

The kingdom of Dalmatia is a strip of country extending 
along the Adriatic, on the north bordering on the Croatian 
military frontier, and for the remainder, surrounded by 
Turkish territories. The country has an area of 4,952 
square miles, and 421,300 inhabitants. The people are 
chiefly of the Sclavonic tribe, and speak the Serbian language. 
Dalmatia is divided into four counties, styled circles, and 
twenty-six districts.* The coast is bleak and arid, and the 
interior is rugged. But little grain is raised. The cattle, 
though small, are numerous. The fishery employs a great 
number of the inhabitants of the coast. Zara, the fortified 
capital, is situated on the Adriatic, and is a flourishing town. 
Spalatro is noted for its Roman antiquities. The people of 
Dalmatia have but little care for politics, and appear satisfied 
with their condition. 

The Lombardo-Venitian kingdom consists of the fertile and 
beautiful plain of the Po, bordered on one side by the highest 
ranges of the Alps, on the other by those of the Appenines. 
It has an area of 17,594 square miles, and a population of 
5,068,000 inhabitants. The kingdom is divided into two go- 
vernments, styled gubernia — those of Milan and Venice — and 
subdivided into seventeen provinces, styled delegations. f The 
first gubernium comprises Milan, Mantua, and Castiglione, the 
formerly Swiss territories of Yeltlin, Borino, and Chiavenna, 
and part of the former territories of the republic of Venice. 

Milan ranks almost as the capital of modern Italy. In 
1845, the city had a population of 205,000 inhabitants. Its 
situation in the middle of a superlatively rich and beautiful 
plain, watered by the Po, at a point where all the great canals 

* Ungewitter. . f Ibid. 



412 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



meet, and on the high road from Germany by the lakes Mag- 
giore and Como, render it a sort of key to the northern part 
of this kingdom. Its modern greatness preceded that of most 
of the other cities ; and under the Sforzas and Yiscontis it 
became the grand theatre of debate between France and Aus- 
tria. Its greatest splendour, however, was attained under 
the regime of France, when it became the capital, first of the 
Italian republic, and then of the kingdom of Italy. Napoleon 
spared no expense in erecting edifices which might dazzle the 
eyes of his new vassals. The Duomo, began in the fifteenth 
century, under the Viscontis, and slowly carried on by suc- 
cessive benefactions, had been left more than half unfinished ; 
so that the French had the greater part of its magnificent front 
to execute. It is the only very superb edifice of this descrip- 
tion which may be said to belong to the present age. In 
extent and pomp it ranks second to St. Peter's ; though the 
design has been criticised, especially as to the fom- hundred 
statues which are ranged along the fagade. It is 454 feet 
long, 270 wide; the height of the cupola is 232, and that 
of the tower 335 feet. The French also erected a very 
magnificent amphitheatre, completely on the antique model, 
in which from 30,000 to 40,000 spectators can be accommo- 
dated. Chariot races and national games have been repeatedly 
performed within its precincts. A superb triumphal arch was 
commenced on the Simplon road, in commemoration of the 
stupendous labours by which that passage over the Alps was 
formed ; but since the fall of Napoleon no further progress 
has been made. The theatre Delia Scala is the only very . 
fine one in Italy, as it was only in Milan, and during the last 
century, that the Italian drama acquired any degree of splen- 
dour. The opera of this city is accounted inferior to that of 
Naples ; but the ballet is the finest in Italy. A more interest- 
ing and classical scene is presented by the Brera, or palace, 
formed out of the ancient convent of the Humiliati. Here 
the French deposited the finest paintings which could be pro- 
cured by purchase or otherwise, from every part of Italy, 
including those brilliant productions of the Bolognese schools, 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 413 



wHcli had adorned the Zampieri palace. The Last Supper 
of Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest masterpieces of 
modern art, and long the pride of Milan, is now almost en- 
tirely faded, and scarcely known but by engravings, and by 
a very fine copy, in mosaic, made by the French. The Am- 
brosian library, formed by Cardinal Frederic Borromeo, on 
the basis of the Benedictine collection, consists of 90,000 
volumes and 15,000 manuscripts, and is well known to the 
world by the learned researches and discoveries of Angelo 
Mai. Milan has an infirmary for 3600 sick, and a foundling 
hospital for 4000 children. It covers a great space of ground, 
and has some very spacious squares ; but the streets in gene- 
ral, like those of other old cities, are narrow and crooked, and 
far from handsome. Several of those called corsos, however, 
which form the entrance into the city, have been greatly im- 
proved. 

In Milan we meet with the same society to be found 
throughout Italy, and especially in the cities under the con- 
trol of Austria. A haughty, pleasure-loving nobility — pub- 
lic functionaries, many of whom are foreigners — Catholic 
clergy, and the extremely poor — beggars being very nume- 
rous. The other towns in the duchy of Milan are Monza, 
with about 17,000 inhabitants, and important manufactures ; 
Mariquano, with about 4000 inhabitants; Pavia, with 25,000 
inhabitants, fine literary institutions, and considerable trade ; 
Lodi, with about 18,000 inhabitants, and important potteries ; 
Codogno, with 8400 inhabitants; Cremma, with 28,000 in- 
habitants, and excellent literary institutions ; Como, with 
17,000 inhabitants, and considerable manufactures ; and a 
few small market towns. 

The duchy of Mantua contains its strong and ancient capi- 
tal of the same name, a city with about 28,000 inhabitants, 
important manufactures, and considerable trade; Gonzaga, a 
market town; and Viadaua, noted for its linen manufactures. 
The principality of Castiglione, and the territories which 
formerly belonged to Switzerland, contain no towns of import- 
ance. The people difier in few particulars from the inhabi- 



414 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE 



tants of Milan and Mantua. The former territories of the 
republic of Venice, within the limits of their government, 
contain Brescia, at the Milan and Venice railroad, a city with 
28,000 inhabitants, highly famed for its manufactures of fire- 
arms, cutlery, &c., as well as for its monuments and literary 
institutions ; Bergomo, a city between the Sevii and Brembo 
rivers, with 32,000 inhabitants, considerable trade, and manu- 
factures, and noted chiefly for its annual fairs ; Erema, Mon- 
techiavo, Chiaro, Toscolano, Gorguano, Verona, Nuova Cas- 
teneddo, Lonato, and several other small towns.* 

The gubernium of Venice comprises nothing but former 
territories of the ancient republic. The city, though now 
reduced to a secondary rank, compared with Milan, is more 
celebrated and much more beautiful. It cannot, indeed, 
boast of any classic monuments, nor are its churches built in 
so lofty a style ; but its palaces, the gay architecture of Pal- 
ladio, present a range of the finest private mansions that were 
ever erected. The effect is greatly heightened by its situa- 
tion, on seventy islets of the Adriatic, partly on the rock, 
partly on piles sunk into the sea, and a marine channel, instead 
of a pavement," perforating every street. Scarcely is there 
room left for a foot passenger; the Venetian is conveyed in 
the gay gondola from palace to palace. Thus Venice appears 
rising from the waters, with its numberless domes and towers ; 
and, attended by several smaller islands, each crowned with 
spires and pinnacles, presents the appearance of a vast city 
floating on the bosom of the ocean. The row of magnificent 
but decaying palaces which extend along the grand canal, with 
their light arabesque balconies and casements, their marble 
porticos, and peculiar chimneys, present one of the 'most 
superb and singular scenes in the world. They stand in 
majesty of ruin, and exhibit the most affecting combinations 
of former splendour and present decay. The most command- 
ing objects are those round the square of St. Mark, the most 
magnificent public place in Italy. The church of St. Mark 
rivals in splendour any edifice in that country, or in Europe. 

* Ungewitter. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 415 



But this pomp is gloomy and barbaric : the five domes wbicli 
swell from its roof, the crowded decorations which cover its 
porticoes, give it the appearance of an Eastern pagoda. Its 
mixed orders, Greek, Saracenic, and Gothic, are beautifully 
but barbarously blended, and glitter with incrustations of 
gold, gems, and marbles. The interior is enriched with the 
spoils of Constantinople and the East, the monuments of long 
ages of glory. The most classic plunder is that of the four 
bronze horses of Lysippus, which stand on the portico facing 
the piazza. After remaining there six hundred years, they 
were removed to the Tuileries, but are noAV replaced. The 
figure of a lion, emblematical of the evangelist St. Mark, 
stands on the second arch. One side of the square is lined by 
the ducal palace, a fabric of vast extent and solidity, built in 
the Gothic and Saracenic style. The stranger beholds with 
emotion the halls where the senate, and the dreadful Council 
of Ten formerly sat ; and which, as well as the other apart- 
ments, are adorned with the finest works of the Venetian 
painters. The Rialto, a bold marble arch thrown over the 
most magnificent part of the great canal, excites universal 
admiration. The arsenal occupies an island by itself, and is 
strongly fortified, spacious, and commodious, wanting nothing 
but shipping and naval stores. The churches, the palaces, 
and the scuole or halls of the different corporations, are em- 
bellished with the finest paintings, both in oil and fresco, of 
the great Venetian painters, Titian, Paul Veronese, Tinto- 
retto, and the Palmas. This school, as is well known, sur- 
passed all others in colouring, though it did not reach the 
grand design and expression of the Roman. Venice is the 
birthplace of Canova, the greatest of modern sculptors, and 
contains some of his works. 

The inhabitants of Venice are a lively, ingenious people, 
extravagantly fond of public amusements, with an uncommon 
relish for humour, and yet more attachment to the real enjoy- 
ments of life than those which depend «n ostentation and pro- 
ceed from vanity. The common people display qualities rarely 
to be found in their sphere of life, being remarkably sober, 



416 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



obliging to strangers, and gentle in their intercourse ■with 
one another. 

The Venetians are, in general, tall and well made, of a 
brown ruddy colour, with dark eyes ; the women have a fine 
countenance, with expressive features, and a skin of rich 
carnation; they dress their hair in a fanciful manner, which 
becomes them very much ; they are of an easy address, and 
have no aversion from cultivating an acquaintance with those 
strangers who are presented by relations, or are properly re- 
commended to them. Foreigners are under less restraint 
here than the natives, and many, after having lived in most 
of the capitals of Europe, have preferred the city of Venice, 
on account of the variety of amusements, the gentle manners 
of the inhabitants, and the perfect freedom allowed in every 
thing, except in blaming the measures of government. 

The houses are thought inconvenient by many travel- 
lers ; the floors are of a red kind of plaster, with a brilliant, 
glossy surface, more beautiful than wood, and far preferable 
in case of fire, the progress of which they are calculated to 
check. The principal apartments are on the second floor; 
the first is seldom inhabited, and is often filled with lumber ; 
they prefer the second as being farther removed from the 
moisture of surrounding lakes, or as being better lighted and 
more cheerful. 

The number of play-houses in Venice is very extraordinary, 
considering the size of the place. A trifle is demanded at 
the door for admittance ; this entitles a person to go into the 
pit, where he may look about and determine what part of the 
house he will sit in. There are rows of chairs placed in the 
front of the pit, next the orchestra, the seats of which are 
folded to the backs and fastened by a lock; those who choose 
to take them pay a little more money to the door-keeper, who 
immediately unlocks the seat. These chairs are occupied by 
decent-looking people, but the back part of the pit is filled 
with footmen and meckanics in their working clothes. The 
nobility and better sort of citizens have boxes retained for 
the year, but there are always a sufficient number to let to 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 417 



strangers, and the price of them varies every night according 
to the season and the piece acted. 

Those acquainted with the character of the Venetians little 
expected such a display of energy and determination as they 
presented in the late revolutionary period. The people 
proved conclusively that they only needed free institutions 
to recover their ancient power and prosperity. At present 
they writhe under the oppressive hand of Austria. In 1846, 
Venice contained 120,000 inhabitants, among whom were only 
6,380 notoriously poor. 

The other cities and towns in the Venetian territory are 
Chioggia, a city on an island of the same name, with salt 
waters, and 25,500 inhabitants; Padua, on the Bocchiglione, 
near the Brenta River, with a renowned university, extensive 
manufactures, and 52,000 inhabitants; Monselice, Montag- 
nano, Este, Rovigo, and Adria, each with 9,000 inhabitants; 
Verna, a strongly fortified city on the Adige, with 52,000 
inhabitants, and renowned for its antiquities, manufactures, 
and annual fairs ; Vicenza, on the Bocchiglione, with nume- 
rous and splendid public edifices, silk manufactures, cattle 
trade, and 35,000 inhabitants. Udine, on the Roja, with 
important silk manufactures, and 23,000 inhabitants; Bas- 
saro, on the Brenta, with a considerable trade in wine and 
silk, and 13,000 inhabitants; Trevino, on the road ~ between 
Venice and Tyrol, with various important manufactures, and 
20,000 inhabitants; Bellum, on, the Piave, with a timber 
trade, and 12,000 inhabitants, and a number of small market 
towns. 



European Turkey comprises nearly all of the large south- 
eastern peninsula of Europe, situated between the Adriatic 
and the Black Sea ; on the north, bounded by the Austrian 
and Russian empires, and on the south by Greece and the 
Archipelago, having an area of 209,422 square miles, and a 

27 



418 



THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 




Turkish Sultana. 



population of 12,500,000 inhabitants. The climate is gene- 
rally mild and pleasant, and the soil, with the exception of • 
some mountainous districts, very fertile ; and produces, though 
badly and negligently cultivated, far more than what is re- 
quired for home consumption. Indian corn, wheat, barley, 
rice, cotton, tobacco, madder, poppy, saflfron, wine, olives, 
timber, salt, and cattle are produced to a great extent.. The 
mountains contain valuable ores, but mining is neglected. 
The manufactures of leather, carpets, and cotton goods are 
extensive and profitable. Commerce is chiefly carried on by 
foreigners, but there is a considerable inland traffic, in which 
the natives participate. 

The government is absolute in form, though, in consequence 
of late political reforms, actually limited. The sovereign is 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 419 




Turks. 

commonly called Sultan, or Grand Seignior. The prime 
minister is called the Grand Vizier ; and the court of the 
sultan, the Sublime Porte. The Mufti is the chief interpre- 
ter of the law, and ranks next in dignity to the sultan, as is 
also the case with the grand vizier. Governors of provinces 
are called Pachas, or Bashaws, and are of three different 
ranks, denoted by the number of horses' tails on their stan- 
dard.* 

The ruling people are the Turks, or Osmanlis; but thfey 
number little more than 700,000 persons. The majority of 
the population consists of Bulgarians, Bozniacs, Servians, 
Wallachians, and other Sclavonic tribes, and the remainder 

* Ungewitter. 



420 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



of the Albanians, a mixed tribe, like the Greeks, the Arme- 
nians, the Jews, Gipsies, and the Franks, as other European 
foreigners are called in Turkey.* The Turks, and the greater 
portion of the Albanians, Bozniacs, and Bulgarians, are Mo- 
hammedan in religious creed. The other nations, except the 
Jews and Gipsies, are Christians of various denominations. 

The Turks are, in general, stout, well made, and robust, 
their complexions naturally fair, and their features hand- 
some ; their hair is of a dark auburn, or chestnut, and some- 
times black, of which last colour are their eyes. The women 
are generally beautiful, extremely well made, and inclinable 
to fat. The deportment of the Turks is solemn, grave, and 
slow, and they affect to appear sedate, passive, and humble ; 
but they are easily provoked, and their passions are furious 
and ungovernable; they are full of dissimulation, jealous, 
suspicious, and so immoderately vindictive, that they will 
abandon their avarice to gratify revenge. They have no 
charity for a Jew or a Christian, but are benevolent and kind 
to those who profess the same religion as themselves. 

It is held highly commendable to provide for pilgrims or 
travellers ; and for this purpose houses of accommodation are 
commonly erected on roads which are unprovided with fit 
places of reception for those who have occasion to take long 
journeys, and they are supplied with necessaries for the bed 
and table; the same spirit induces them to dig wells and 
erect fountains by the roadside, water being of the greatest 
importance to travellers, not only as a refreshment on account 
of the warmth of the climate, but for the performance of the 
ceremonies of a religion which enjoins frequent washing and 
purification with water. As they advance to old age, -it is 
customary to dye their beards, to conceal the change of colour 
which begins to take place; and women at the same time 
usually metamorphose themselves in the like way, by colour- 
ing their hair, eyebrows, and eyelids. Their hands and feet 
are ornamented nearly in the same manner, with this differ- 

* Unge witter. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 421 



ence, that the colour they choose for the purpose is a dusky- 
yellow, with which they touch the tips of the fingers and 
toes, and drop a few drops of the preparation used in this 
operation on the hands and feet; some, indeed, as marks of 
superior elegance, stain a great part of their extremities, in 
the forms of flowers or figures, with a dye of a dark green 
cast; but this soon loses its beauty, and changes to a colour 
not less pleasing than the other. 

The ladies wear drawers, very full, which reach to the 
shoes ; they are made of thin rose-coloured damask, brocaded 
with silver flowers. The shoes are of white kid leather em- 
broidered with gold ; over these hangs a shift of fine white 
gauze, edged with embroidery, having white sleeves hanging 
halfway down the arm, and it is closed at the neck with a 
diamond button. A waistcoat is made to the shape, of white 
and gold damask, with long sleeves falling back, and edged 
with deep gold fringe; this should have diamond and pearl 
buttons. The caftan, of the same stuff with the drawers, is a 
robe exactly fitted to the shape, and reaching to the feet, 
with very long, straight, falling sleeves ; over this is a girdle 
about four fingers broad, which all who can afford it have en- 
tirely of diamonds or other precious stones. The curdee, 
with a loose robe, is put on or thrown off according to the 
weather, being a rich brocade lined either with ermine or 
sables. 

The head-dress is composed of a cap called talpoe, which 
in winter is of fine velvet embroidered with pearls or dia- 
monds ; and in summer of light shining silver stuff; this is 
fixed on one side of the head, from which it hangs a little 
way down with a gold tassel, and is bound on, either w^ith 
diamonds or a rich embroidered handkerchief: on the other 
side of the head the hair is flat ; and here the ladies are at 
liberty to show their fancy, some putting flowers, others a 
plume of heron feathers. The hair hangs at its full length 
behind, divided into tresses, braided with pearls or ribbons in 
great quantities. 

In some of the districts a large gold or silver ring is hung 



422 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



to the external cartilage of the woman's right nostril, which 
is perforated for the purpose. The dress of the men is 
equally splendid. 

They are great admirers of a venerable beard, yet they 
shave their heads close, and use a proverbial expression in 
justification of this practice, "that the devil nestles in 
long hair." Their manner of living, with regard to food, 
is much like that which obtains among the Arabians. 
As wine and spirits are forbidden by the laws of Mahomet, 
the Turks practice another species of intoxication : they use 
opium very freely, which produces some of the immediate 
efiects of drunkenness, inspiring them with an extraordinary 
cheerfulness, rousing them into unusual exertions, and occa- 
sioning a kind of temporary delirium. 

Among the amusements of the Turks, the bagnios hold the 
first place. All cities and towns are provided with public 
baths, which are well adapted for the purposes of convenience 
and amusement. The entrance is into a large room, pro- 
vided with a fountain or basin of water in the middle, and 
sofas round the walls : here the company assemble, enter into 
conversation, and prepare for bathing, by divesting them- 
selves of their upper garments. A door opens from this 
room to a less spacious apartment, which is heated in a small 
degree, where the person who is about to bathe leaves the re- 
maining part of his dress, and proceeds to the actual bathing- 
room, which is of a larger size. About the sides of this room 
are placed large stone basins, into which warm and cold water 
are brought by means of difierent pipes, so that a person may 
have the bath at any temperature he chooses. Before he 
enters the water, he uses a composition which efiectually frees 
the body from all superfluous hairs ; he is then carefully 
washed, and undergoes a smart friction by means of coarse 
cloths from one of the attendants. After this he is washed 
with a lather of soap, which being well cleaned away, he 
binds a napkin about his head, another round his middle, and 
a third over his shoulders, and in this state returns to the 
room where they first assembled, smokes his pipe, takes 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 423 



coffee, and other refreshments, till he is disposed to resume 
his clothes and depart. 

It is not unusual for two hundred ladies, attended by their 
respective slaves of the same sex, to assemble at one of these 
bagnios, and after having undergone the operation of bathing, 
to recline themselves on sofas, and either employ themselves 
in working, or engaged in conversation, taking coffee, sweet- 
meats, (fee, themselves and attendants remaining unincum- 
bered with the unnecessary ornaments of dress. 

The Mohammedan religion consists of two points, which may 
be considered as the fundamental articles of that faith: and 
five of practice: the former are, that there is no god but 
God, and that Mahomet is his prophet ; the latter are — That 
purifications of the body, by washing, are to be observed as 
an indispensable part of their duty to God ; that prayers 
are to be offered at certain fixed times and seasons, as pre- 
scribed by the holy law ; that alms are to be bestowed ac- 
cording to the ability of the giver ; that it is necessary to 
fast during all the month of Ramazan ; and that frequent 
pilgrimages to Mecca are acceptable to God, and one abso- 
lutely necessary to salvation. 

The purifications are by means of water, when that can be 
procured, but in other cases the Koran indulges them with a 
substitution of fine sand. They are obliged to pray five 
times a day ; these may, upon any emergency, be dispensed 
with, provided the person holds himself indebted in so many 
prayers, and discharges the obligation at his first convenience. 
The charity enjoined by the Koran is generally confined to 
the erection of public buildings, as mosques, caravanseras or 
inns on the road, fountains of water, bagnios, colleges, and 
bridges ; little of it is applied in the immediate relief of the 
necessitous, except to the support of the Fakiers, who are 
continually wandering about the country. During the month 
Ramazan, all ranks of people abstain from eating and smok- 
ing till after sunset; but through the night all is festivity, 
the mosques and private houses are illuminated within and 



424 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



•mthout, and they take care amply tO' recompense themselves 
for the penances of the day. 

After this season they perform the pilgrimage to Mecca. 
The caravan of Damascus, composed of pilgrims from Europe 
and Asia minor ; the Arabian caravan ; and the principal one 
from Cairo; then set out on their journey. They have all 
their stated time of departure and regular stages. Five or 
six days previously to that festival, the three caravans, con- 
sisting of about two hundred thousand men, and three thou- 
sand beasts of burden, unite and encamp at a few miles from 
Mecca. The pilgrims form themselves into detachments, and 
enter the town, to perform the ceremonies preparatory to the 
great one of sacrifice. They pass through a street of con- 
tinual ascent, until they arrive at a gate on an eminence, 
called the "Gate of Health." From this station they behold 
the great mosque that encloses the house of Abraham, which 
they salute with the most profound devotion, twice repeating, 
"Peace be with the ambassador of God." Thence, at some 
distance, they ascend five steps, where they ofier up their 
prayers, and descend with great silence and devotion. This 
ceremony must be performed seven times. 

They afterward proceed to the great mosque, and walk 
seven times round the house of Abraham, exclaiming, " this 
is the house of God, and of his servant Abraham ;" then kiss- 
ing, with great reference, a black stone, said to have de- 
scended white from heaven, they proceed to the well of Zun- 
Zun, and plunge into it with all their clothes, continually re- 
peating, "Forgiveness, God! forgiveness, God!" After this 
they drink a draught of the water and depart. 

Mr. Eaton, in his survey of the Turkish empire, mentions 
many facts, exhibiting the resignation of the Turks to the 
severest affliction, which he ascribes to their belief in the doc- 
trine of predestination. 

The Turkish women and children (about 400) who were 
brought out of Ochakof when the city was taken, and the in- 
habitants put to the sword by the Russians, endured all their 
calamities with stoical patience. A perfect silence reigned 



THEIK CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 425 



among them, not one woman weeping or lamenting, so as to 
be heard, though, perhaps, every one had lost a parent, a 
child, or a husband. One, in particular, sat in a remarkably 
melancholy posture, and when asked why she did not take 
courage, and bear misfortunes like a mussulman, as her com- 
panions did, she answered in these striking words, ^^ I have 
seen hilled my father, my husband, and my children; I have 
only one child left." "And where is that," was the question 
immediately put ; '■'•Here" she calmly said, and pointed to 
an infant by her side that had just expired. 

The political power of the "priests in Turkey is firmly 
rooted, nor have they omitted any means of perpetuating it. 
To found mosques, and endow them with treasures, is held 
to be one of the most meritorious works of a mussulman ; and 
further provision is made for the education of youth destined 
to the service of religion and law, by the establishment of 
medresses or colleges. These are usually endowed for the 
instruction of youth in the elements of science. 

Some years ago, there were in Constantinople alone, one 
thousand six hundred and fifty-three Mohammedan elemen- 
tary schools, besides five hundred and fifteen colleges. In 
September, 1816, the sultan founded a university on the plan 
of other European institutions of the kind.* The present 
sovereign, Abdul Meshid, seems very anxious to enlighten 
and elevate his people. 

The court and seraglio form not only the most brilliant 
appendage to the Ottoman Porte, but one of the great moving 
springs of its political action. In this palace, or prison, are 
immured five or six hundred females, the most beautiful that 
can be found in the neighbouring realms of Europe, Asia, 
and Africa ; wherever Turks can rule or Tartars ravage. 
The pachas and tributary princes vie with each other in gifts 
of this nature, which form the most effective mode of gaining 
imperial favour. Into these recesses only short and stolen 
glances have been cast by Europeans ; but their reports at- 

* Ungewitter. 



426 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



test a splendour like that which is celebrated in the Arabian 
tales ; the walls and the ceilings are of olive or walnut wood, 
curiously carved, richly gilded, and often inlaid with mother- 
of-pearl, ivory, and porcelain ; the floors spread with the 
richest Persian carpets. The sultan, however, does not 
marry, judging his place too high to admit any one to such 
an equality. From the multitude of beauties, however, he 
selects seven, who are called kadunis or favourites, while the 
remaining crowd are confounded under the appellation of 
odalisques, or slaves. The number seven cannot be exceeded ; 
but when a vacancy is wanted, it can be effected by removing 
one of them to the old seraglio, a dignified retirement, which 
receives also the favourites of the prince immediately on his 
death. These imprisoned beauties are guarded by numerous 
bands of unfortunate slaves reduced to the state of eunuchs. 
The gates and outer apartments are guarded by white 
eunuchs ; but black eunuchs, rendered safe by their de- 
formity, are stationed in all the interior recesses. Many of 
these personages rise to great distinction, and the kislar aga, 
their chief, is one of the leading characters in the empire, 
and even a sort of head of the church. In another palace 
are reared a great body of ichoglans, or pages, trained in all 
graceful exercises, for the purpose of personal attendance on 
the sultan. They are often raised to high offices of state, 
though in that capacity they are viewed with utter contempt 
by the hardy chiefs who have forced their way by merit and 
services. Another class of eminent characters in this court 
consists of the mutes. A Turkish grandee, lolling on his 
sofa, requires incessant attendance : his pipe, sherbet, and 
slippers must be at any moment handed to him or to his 
guests ; he must therefore have some one before whom he 
can speak without reserve, and without f^ar of his secrets 
being made public ; but many, to reach such high employ- 
ments, feign themselves to be labouring under these infirmi- 
ties. Dwarfs, by a taste which seems common to uncultivated 
minds, are also favourites ; and when any individual unites 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 427 



the perfections of being deaf and dumb, and a dwarf, he be- 
comes one to whom the highest value is attached. 

Justice is administered by members of the ulema : those 
in the large towns are termed mollahs, and in the smaller 
towns cadis ; the nominations being made by the sultan from 
a list presented by the mufti. The proceedings are conducted 
with the greatest simplicity. At the divan hanneh, or vizier's 
tribunal, there is a written statement of the case, which must 
however be comprised in a page, leaving room for the sen- 
tence at the bottom. The parties then plead ; two or three 
witnesses are examined on each side ; and the decision is 
given on the spot. Justice is thus neither costly nor tedious, 
but it is venal. Few judges are inaccessible to a bribe ; and 
false witnesses are more numerous, and more shameless, than 
in almost any other country. After all, Turk against Turk 
has a tolerable chance ; but those beyond the pale of the 
faith afford a mine of wealth to true believers, who, in open- 
ing a process against them, are almost certain to gain some- 
thing. 

The revenues of the Turkish empire cannot be accurately 
ascertained. The debt is fixed at $36,000,000. 

The military system of the Turks, formerly the terror of 
the greatest powers in Europe, and now despised by almost 
the meanest, has undergone no formal change. It is sup- 
ported on a basis somewhat resembling the feudal militia, 
though without any thing of an hereditary character. All 
the lands are distributed, in portions of three hundred acres 
and upward, among the zaims and timariots, on condition 
that they bring into the field, and support at their own cost, 
a number of horsemen proportioned to the extent of their 
lots. The troops are, however, bound to keep to their stand- 
ards only between the days of St. George and St. Demetrius ; 
that is, between the middle of April and the middle of Octo- 
ber. The above are termed the toprakli, or feudatory troops ; 
the rest are the capiculi, or paid troops, who alone approxi- 
mate to the character of a regular force. Of these last, the 
chief have hitherto been the janissaries, who for a long period 



428 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



might be said to hold at their disposal the Ottoman empire ; 
and their aga was one of its greatest officers. They origin- 
ated in a peculiar policy of the first sultans, who, selecting 
the most vigorous of the young captives, trained them up in 
the Mohammedan religion, and in all the exercises fitting them 
for war. They were afterward, however, recruited out of 
the mussulman population, many of whom even solicited a 
nominal admission, with a view to the privileges and exemp- 
tions attached to the order. This powerful body was annihi- 
lated by the vigorous and bloody measures of Mahmoud II., 
who used the utmost exertion to organize a new force similar 
to that maintained by the other European powers. There is 
also a paid force of spahis, or cavalry. Of this force a great 
proportion is required for the body-guard -of the sultan and 
pachas, and for the police ; so that the field-armies of the 
Turks consist almost entirely of the toprakli, or feudatories, 
a huge tumultuary mass, resembling the armies of Europe 
during the feudal ages. Their order of encampment has been 
compared to a number of coins taken in the hand and scat- 
tered over a table ; and their march resembles the career of 
the volcano, desolating every spot over which they pass : as 
they advance, the inhabitants flee to the mountains, and se- 
crete all their most valuable effects. The Turkish soldiery 
make merely one vigorous push against the enemy, and if 
this fails they are discouraged, disperse, and return to their 
homes. Upon such a system, they cannot, in modern times, 
at all match in the field regular armies. It would be rash, 
however, to infer, from the poor figure they have made in all 
the Greek wars, that the Turkish empire would fall an easy 
prey to an invader. It has many defensive resources. The 
Turks have an excellent light cavalry ; they skirmish well, 
and defend fortresses with great obstinacy 5 and in extremity 
the grand seignior can summon to arms the whole mass of the 
population, who are not slow to obey the call whenever im- 
pelled by any national motive, such as would be the invasion 
of the empire by an infidel army. The regular army con- 
sists of 124,000 men. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 429 



The rayahs, or tributary subjects of the empire, form a class 
subjected to a peculiar system of policy. The propagation 
of the Koran by the sword is a fundamental principle of the 
Mohammedan faith, and death inflicted on the infidel is esteemed 
the surest passport into paradise. To justify this slaughter, 
however, it is necessary that there should be resistance ; and 
not to strike off the heads that bend, has become an esta- 
blished maxim. But the utmost boon which the vanquished 
giaour can hope is, that his life may be spared : his person, 
his property, his all, belong to the votaries of the true faith. 
An indiscriminate spoil was at first made ; but policy after- 
ward dictated to the sovereign the plan of commuting these 
indefinite claims for the fixed tribute or capitation called 
haratsh, which, with exclusion from all offices of trust and 
power, formed the only legal penalties. Of course, however, 
in such a government, various detached acts of oppression and 
extortion would be committed, against which the despised and 
abhorred Christian would in vain protest. The Greeks had 
three high offices to which they might aspire ; that of Princes 
of Moldavia and Wallachia, and of dragoman, or interpreter ; 
but these were all in the gift of the Porte ; and the intrigues 
by which they were to be sought served still more to degrade 
the Greek character. Yet, even under this imperfect protec- 
tion, the nation, being left in the exclusive possession of many 
industrious and lucrative occupations, insensibly accumulated 
a degree of wealth which raised them to importance, and ex- 
cited that desire of independence which has produced such 
striking effects. 

European Turkey is divided into four provinces, styled 
Ejalets, which are subdivided into districts, styled Livas, or 
Sandjahs. But the following is the division usually adopted : 
1, Roumelia ; 2, Bulgaria ; 3, Macedonia ; 4, Thessalia ; 
5, the Islands ; 6, Albania ; 7, Bosnia, and 8, Tributary 
Provinces.* 

Roumelia contains Constantinople, the great capital of the 

* Unge-ffitter. 



430 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



empire, and Adrianople, the second city. The capital con- 
tains about 88,000 houses and about 900,000 inhabitants. 
Its situation is as beautiful as it is commodious. Seated on 
the Bosphorus, at the point where it communicates with the 
Propontis or Sea of Marmora, it is connected both with the 
Mediterranean and the Black Sea by a succession of straits, 
easily defensible, yet navigable for the largest vessels. The 
port is spacious and admirable. On the side of Europe and 
on that of Asia rich plains spread before the eye, bounded 
by the snowy tops of H^mus and Olympus. The city itself, 
rising on seven hills, along the shore of the Bosphorus, em- 
bosomed in groves, from amid which numerous gilded domes 
ascend to a lofty height, presents a most magnificent specta- 
cle. But the moment the interior is entered, all the magic 
scene disappears. The streets are narrow, winding, ill paved, 
and crowded; the houses low and gloomy; and the hills, 
which appeared majestic in the view, causing steep ascents 
and descents, prove excessively inconvenient. But the most 
fatal circumstance in the structure of Constantinople is, that 
the houses of rich and poor are alike entirely composed of 
wood, while chimneys are not generally used, but their place 
supplied by vessels of brass or earth put under the feet. 
These circumstances, joined to the usual improvidence of the 
Mohammedans, cause most tremendous conflagrations. It is 
even believed that the Turkish public employ the setting fire 
to the city as a mode of communicating their opinion on the 
conduct of their rulers. The scene is terrible, from the ex- 
tent of the blaze, the deep rolling of the drum from the top 
of the minarets, and the crowds that assemble, among whom 
even the grand seignior himself is expected to be present. It 
is reckoned that Constantinople rises entire from its ashes in 
the course of every fifteen years ; but no advantage is ever 
taken of the circumstance to improve its g,spect. The fallen 
streets are immediately reconstructed with all their imperfec- 
tions, and the houses rebuilt of the same fragile materials. 
This city contains, however, some structures that are very 
magnificent. Among them stands foremost the mosque of 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 481 



St. Sophia, accounted the finest in the world, first built as a 
church by Justinian, and converted by the conquering Turks 
to its present use* The mosques of Sultan Achmet and of 
Suleyman are equally vast and splendid, but not marked by 
the same classic taste. The numerous minarets are in gene- 
ral airy and elegant, and add greatly to the beauty of the 
city. 

Pera and Scutari, two appendages to Constantinople, in 
any other vicinity, would rank as cities. Pera is the Frank 
quarter, where reside the ambassadors and agents of all the 
European courts, and under their protection all Christians 
whose trade does not fix them at the port. It has thus be- 
come very populous, and even crowded; so that houses are 
obtained with difficulty. Scutari stands on the Asiatic side, 
in a beautiful and cultivated plain, and presents a picturesque 
aspect, from the mixture of trees and minarets. It carries 
on a very considerable caravan trade with the interior of 
Asia. A great forest near it contains the most splendid 
cemetery of the empire, as all the grandees of Constantinople 
seek to deposit their remains in Asia, which they consider as 
a Holy Land, in the possession of true believers, while Eu- 
rope is almost entirely the prey of the "infidel." In this 
vicinity is situated the castle of the Seven Towers used by 
government as a state prison. 

Bulgaria forms a long plain, between the Balkan and the 
Danube. Some portions are rugged, others marshy; but 
upon the whole it possesses a large share of beauty and fer- 
tility. The Bulgarians, a race originally Tartar, now profess 
the Greek religion ; and are quiet, industrious, and hospitable. 
Sophia, the capital, at the foot of the mountains, is a large 
town, with fifty thousand inhabitants, and carries on a great 
inland trade between Salonica and the interior countries of 
eastern Europe. It is also the usual rendezvous of the Turk- 
ish armies taking the field against the Russians or Austrians. 
Schmula, near the entrance of another of the great passes 
of the Balkan, forms rather a chain of rudely entrenched 
positions than a regular fortress ; yet such is the obstinacy 



432 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



with which the Turks defend such situations, that this city 
has repeatedly baffled the utmost efforts of the Russian army, 
which in 1828 was obliged to retreat with signal disaster. 
Even in Diebitsch's victorious campaign of 1829, he was 
unable to reduce the place, but passed it, and, crossing the 
Balkan to Adrianople, intimidated the Porte into a peace. 
Schmula is a large city, with numerous mosques and minarets 
glittering with burnished tin plates. It is distinguished by 
numerous workmen in tin and brass. Temovo, the ancient 
capital of the Bulgarian kings, commands another of the 
Balkan passes. Varna, a port on the Black Sea, is also a 
leading military station, and was the theatre of a signal victory 
gained by Amurath the Great over the Hungarian troops. 

A chain of fortresses on the Danube, large, and strongly 
fortified, formed long the main bulwarks of the Turkish em- 
pire. The chief are, "VVidin, the residence of a pacha; 
Giurgevo, Nicopoli, Rutshuk, Silistria. They are all of 
nearly similar character, extensive and populous, uniting with 
their importance as military stations that derived from an 
extensive trade along the Danube. Rutshuk is the largest, 
containing seven thousand houses, inhabited by the Greeks, 
Jews, and ArmenianSj who carry on an active trade. The 
country round is a dead flat as far as the eye can reach. 
Giurgevo is considered by Mr. Walsh the most complete for- 
tress in the empire. It is situated amid dismal swamps ; but 
in the vicinity are mines of rock salt, white as snow. 

Macedonia is the finest province in Turkey, having a soil 
superior to that of Sicily. It is situated between Roumelia and 
Thessalia. Salmira, its capital, on the gulf of the same 
name, is, next to Constantinople, the most important s-eaport 
in Turkey, and it contains with numerous factories, dyeries, 
and antiquities, about seventy thousand inhabitants. Vodina, 
Drama, Vardar, Seres — noted for its cotton manufactures — 
Rostendil, Orfan, and Rasaveria, are the other important 
towns of the province. The majority of the people are em- 
ployed in agriculture, which is pursued with remarkable suc- 
cess. The province is very wealthy and prosperous. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 433 



Thessalia, situated between Macedonia and Greece, has an 
area of 3514 square miles, and more than three hundred 
thousand Greek inhabitants, who are noted for industry and 
enterprise. Larissa, its capital, on the Salambria river, with 
noted djeries and manufactures, vineyards and commerce, 
has twenty-five thousand inhabitants. Trikala, Turnovo, 
Amabeakia, Farsa, and Vilo, are also distinguished for their 
valuable manufactures. 

The islands in the Archipelago and in the Mediterranean 
belonging to Turkey are, — Candia, Lemnos, Thamos, Samo- 
thraki and Imbo. Candia has an area of 4008 square miles, 
and a population of one hundred and forty thousand inhabi- 
tants, one-half of whom are Turks, and the remainder Greeks, 
Jews, Abadiotes, and Armenians. Its capital, Candia, has 
twelve thousand inhabitants, and there are several other 
important towns upon it. Lemnos has an area of 160 square 
miles and eight thousand inhabitants, and is noted for its 
"Lemnian earth." Thasos has an area of eighty-five square 
miles, and six thousand inhabitants, and is noted for its wines 
and marble. Samothratki has an area of thirty-six square 
miles, and fifteen hundred inhabitants. Imbro has an area 
of eighty-five square miles, and four thousand inhabitants, 
and is very fertile.* 

The principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, on the south 
of the Danube, form an extensive region, about 360 miles in 
length, and 150 in breadth, presenting a very similar aspect and 
character. They compose a vast plain, reaching from the river 
to the southern and eastern boundaries of the Carpathian moun- 
tains. The districts adjoining to these eminences are varied 
and picturesque, but toward the Danube become flat and 
marshy. The plains, particularly in Moldavia, are covered 
with almost innumerable stagnant pools, which communicate 
to the air pestilential qualities. The climate is subject to 
singular variations : in summer extremely hot, while in win- 
ter, under the latitude of the south of France, the Danube 

* Unge-witter. 
28 



434 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



is for six weeks of the year so completely frozen as to bear 
the heaviest carriages. The soil, where not actually inun- 
dated, is exceedingly productive. Wheat is raised of excel- 
lent quality ; but the Turks have imposed restrictions on the 
disposal of it, and the occupation of pasturage is preferred. 
The peasantry are a laborious, oppressed race, of simple 
habits, and living in rude abodes. They are of low stature, 
weak, with light silky hair, and mostly dressed in sheepskins. 
The Wallachians form a considerable part of the population 
of Transylvania and of all the neighbouring countries. 
These two countries were once governed by native princes, 
and have not finally renounced all pretensions to liberty ; yet 
the mixture of rude independence with debasing despotism 
does not cause the yoke to press at all lighter on the body 
of the people. The boyars exercise over them the same rude 
tyranny as the European nobles during the feudal ages; 
while the Prince of Moldavia and the Hospodar of Wallachia, 
though they must belong to the Greek nation, do not, on that 
account, exercise any milder yoke over their countrymen. 
Appointed by the Porte from favour or purchase, they em- 
ploy their arbitrary sway solely to practise the most enor- 
mous exactions, and amass immense wealth during their 
short and precarious rule. The body of the people are of 
the Greek nation and faith; and in these countries the 
Greeks first raised the standard of independence : they ex- 
perienced for some time a gleam of success ; but their efforts 
were speedily and completely crushed. The cities in this re- 
gion are large and rude. Jassy, the capital of Moldavia, is 
situated in the interior of the country, amid a marshy dis- 
trict, which renders it unhealthy. Galacz, at the junction of 
the Danube and the Sigeth, carries on most of the trade, and 
might attain considerable importance if the navigation of the 
former river were made free. Bucharest, the capital of Wal- 
lachia, is a much larger city, containing about 100,000 souls. 
It is built upon a dismal swamp, to render the streets passable 
over which, they are covered with boards ; but, in the inter- 
vals, water springs up from dirty kennels beneath. Here, 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 435 



according to Mr. Walsh, European and oriental costumes and 
manners unite in nearly equal proportions. The people are 
clothed half in hats and shoes, half in calpacs and pelisses ; 
the carriages are driven as often by buffaloes as by horses. 
The nobles live in extravagance and dissipation, while the 
people are plunged in poverty. The trade of the city is very 
extensive. 

Servia and Bosnia are two countries of smaller extent, 
reaching westward from Bulgaria, and, like it, situated be- 
tween the mountains and the Danube. They do not, how- 
ever, present any similarly vast plain, but are penetrated by 
lofty ranges, through which flow numerous rivers, of which 
the most important are in Servia, the Moravia, in Bosnia, the 
Drino, and Bosna. The territories consist thus in a great 
measure of a succession of fertile valleys, in which wheat, 
maize, and other valuable grains are reared ; and though the 
people are reproached with want of agricultural industry, 
Bosnia at least produces grain somewhat more than enough 
for its own supply. Cattle, however, is the chief product in 
both ; and they possess some valuable breeds. The hills are 
covered with extensive forests, and abound in fruit trees, and 
in valuable aromatic herbs and plants. Neither the Servians 
nor Bosnians are under entire subjection to the Porte. The 
former are chiefly of the Greek church, and under Czerni 
Georges made a most gallant resistance to the Turkish power, 
and extorted extensive privileges. The Servians, though 
without much literature, have a native poetry, which has at- 
tracted admiration. The Bosnians, also, though Mohamme- 
dans, possess many feudal rights, having thirty-six hereditary 
captains, and even deputies from the towns. Their language 
is a dialect of the Servian. Polygamy is seldom practised, 
and their females appear in public unveiled. 

Several large cities are found in these provinces. The 
capital of Servia is Belgrade, a fortress of extraordinary 
strength, long considered the key of Hungary, and disputed 
with the utmost obstinacy between the Austrians and Turks. 
It is now equally distinguished as a seat of inland commerce, 



436 THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPE .* 



being the great entrepOt between Turkey and Germany, and 
is supposed to contain about thirty thousand inhabitants. 
Bosna Serai, capital of Bosnia, is still larger, having been 
estimated to contain sixty-eight thousand inhabitants. It 
traffics in arms and jewelry, and receives numerous caravans 
from Constantinople. Such is the spirit of independence 
here, that the Turkish governor is allowed to reside in the 
city only three days of the year. His fixed residence is at 
Traunick. Jaicza, the ancient capital of Bosnia, is now in 
decay. 

Albania is a remarkable and important country. It ex- 
tends about two hundred miles along the Gulf of Venice and 
the Mediterraneian, and has an interior breadth varying from 
thirty to one hundred miles. It is entirely rugged and moun- 
tainous, diversified by numerous streams and lakes, and of an 
aspect extremely picturesque. The inhabitants, a race of 
bold mountaineers, have distinguished themselves by their 
valour from the earliest ages. This was the domain of Pyr- 
rhus, whose victories in Italy made him so formidable to 
Rome. In the decline of the Greek empire, Albania rose, 
Tinder its present name, to the character of an independent 
kingdom. When attacked by the Turks, it made a most 
gallant resistance ; and the exploits of Scanderberg, its hero, 
might adorn the pages of romance. Even at the beginning 
of the present century, Ali Pacha, a native of the country, 
erected a power almost completely independent of the Porte, 
extending over several of the surrounding countries. At 
length he was overpowered, betrayed, his head cut ofi", and 
suspended from the gate of the seraglio at Constantinople. 
The Turks thus re-established their dominion, and renewed 
the division into the four pachalics ; those of Scutari, Ochrida, 
Vallona, and Butrinto. 

The inhabitants of Albania are estimated at 1,200,000; 
and though these include a considerable number of Turks and 
Greeks, the basis consists of a peculiar native race, difiering 
completely from all others in the empire. Their conversion 
to the Mohammedan creed has been very imperfect : the 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 437 



males of a family go usually to the mosque, wliile the females 
attend church, and no discord arises out of this difference; 
so that the Turks regard them as little better than infidels. 
The Albanian is of middle stature, with an oval visage, and 
high cheekbones ; bearing an erect and majestic air. He 
piques himself on a frank and open demeanour, holding in 
contempt the art and dissimulation of the Greek. He has 
nothing, too, of the inert solemnity of the Turk; is gay and 
active, yet a stranger to the habits of regular industry. He 
walks constantly armed ; his delight is in combat, and even 
in rapine. The mountainous tracts are infested with numer- 
ous bands of robbers, which most of the Albanians join, for 
at least some part of their lives, without the least shame : it 
is common for one to speak of the time when he was a robber. 
They seek military employment also in the service of the 
sultan, and of the different pachas, particularly that of Egypt. 
Although they form only a tumultary assemblage of men, 
with scarcely any subordination or regular distribution into 
corps, yet they are so individually active and intrepid, that 
they have rendered themselves formidable even to highly dis- 
ciplined troops : they compose the only infantry in the Turk- 
ish armies thai is at all effective. 

Joannina, which Ali made the capital, has a very pictur- 
esque situation on a lake, surrounded by lofty mountains, and 
is supposed to contain a population of forty thousand. The 
houses are irregularly built, intermingled with gardens and 
trees. A great proportion of the inhabitants are Greek. 
Arta, on a gulf of the same name, is the chief theatre of 
trade. Scutari, or Scodra, the capital of Upper Albania, is 
situated in a rich plain ; has a population of about sixteen 
thousand ; and carries on some considerable manufactures of 
cloth. Its pacha is now the most considerable potentate in 
Albania. 



NEW YORK. N. Y, 
UBRARV 



438 THE PEOPLE OF EUEOPE : 



Q^xtut, 



Greece, as made into a kingdom into 1832, comprises the 
peninsula between the Ionian Sea and the Archipelago, and is 
bounded on the north by European Turkey, together with those 
islands in the Archipelago called the Cyclades and the North- 
ern Sporades. The surface of the country is generally moun- 
tainous, but there are many beautiful plains and fertile districts. 
Five million acres are computed to be adapted to agriculture ; 
more than a million and a half of acres being woodland, eighteen 
millions used for vineyards, and six thousand used for rearing 
olives and currants. Grazing is profitably pursued. The 
area of Greece is 19,149 square miles ; its population amounts 
to about one million inhabitants.* 

The government is a constitutional monarchy, and Prince 
Otho, of Bavaria, has been king since 1832. Russian in- 
fluence is supreme at present in the Grecian councils, and 
therefore the government is not as liberal in its measures as 
the natives had hoped. Since the revolution there has been 
a constant strife of factions, keeping the country in a very 
unsettled and unpromising state. Of late, the power of 
Russia seems to have secured some degree of order and quiet. 
The kingdom is divided into ten provinces, styled nomos, or 
nomarchies, which are subdivided into forty-seven districts or 
eparchies. There are three principal sections of the king- 
dom, known as Linadia, Morea, and the Islands. The esta- 
blished religion is that of the Greek church, but there are 
about twenty-five thousand Roman Catholics.f 

The character of the modern Greeks, both before and since 
the revolution, has been painted in somewhat unfavourable 
colours. They are represented as addicted to the vices 
incident to every despised and oppressed people ; avarice, in- 
trigue, cunning, servility, and as being almost entirely go- 
verned by motives of self-interest. The reproach, however, 

* Ungewitter. f Ibid. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 



439 




Greeks. 

seems to be mainly due to the inhabitants of tbe towns, and 
the chiefs, particularly the Fanariots, or rich Greeks of 
Constantinople. The peasantry are allowed to be a very fine 
race ; and indeed, the great actions performed in the course 
of the struggle for independence must silence those who pre- 
tend that the nation has lost all its ancient energies. " With 
all their faults," says Mr. Humphreys, "they are highly 
gifted ; they possess a fine genius, and an acuteness in intel- 
lect, a tact, and a natural grace in manner, unequalled by 
any other nation." Even the capitani in their country-seats 
maintain a dignified and courteous hospitality, and a paternal 
kindness toward their retainers, resembling what is occasion- 
ally seen among the old lairds of Scotland. The female sex 
enjoy greater liberty, and are treated with much more re- 
spect, than among the Turks. They are distinguished by 



440 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 

beauty, and by a remarkable delicacy of features and com- 
plexion. The Greeks of the cities, on the contrary, when 
they get rich, study to imitate the manners, and even the 
costumes, of the Turkish pachas, the only models of grandeur 
that exist within their observation. " The Greeks," says 
Count Pecchia, "sit a la Turque, and will continue to do so 
for a great length of time ; they eat pilau d la Turque ; they 
smoke with long pipes ; they write with their left hand ; they 
walk out accompanied with a long troop of armed people ; 
they salute, they sleep, they loiter about d la Turque. Ini- 
tiated into that mingled servility and indolence which des- 
potism tends to introduce, they exhibit many examples of 
that moral degradation which has been hastily imputed to the 
Greek nation in general." 

According to a late writer, the lower ranks in Greece 
have a religion of mere forms, while the upper ranks have no 
religion at all. The most respectable of the clergy are the 
monks or caloyers, out of whom are chosen the bishops, and 
even the patriarch or general head of the religion, who be- 
fore the late convulsions, resided at Constantinople. Some 
of them are men of theological knowledge, who lead regular 
lives ; but a violent spirit of intrigue prevails in pursuit of 
the dignities of the church, which are bestowed by election. 
The secular clergy consist of the papas or village priests, 
who, as is usual among an unenlightened people, exercise the 
most unbounded influence over the minds of the lower ranks. 
This influence, though often abused, is, perhaps, on the whole 
beneficial ; but these papas seem to exert themselves as little 
as any class in infusing just views and sentiments into their 
parishioners. Some of them even scruple not to take the 
field along with the robbers, and receive a portion of the 
booty. 

Learning, in Greece, where it once flourished with such 
unrivalled splendour, had fallen into a state of total extinc- 
tion. With wealth and the spirit of independence, however, 
had arisen a strong desire to revive the ancient intellectual 
glory of their country, and some progress had been made. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 441 



Several schools and colleges were founded, and in a flourish- 
ing state ; among which that of Scio was above all conspicu- 
ous. The most distinguished young men were sent to be 
educated in the French and German seminaries. Greece 
could boast several writers of some eminence, and many of 
the best works of the western writers had been translated. 
The Turks viewed this career with jealous eyes. Two literary 
men, (one, the translator of Anacharsis, and the other an 
eminent poet, who had endeavoured to arouse in his country- 
men their ancient spirit,) having been basely delivered by 
Austria, were put to death. Yet the public libraries con- 
tinued in a state of progressive advance, down to the period 
of the revolution, when they were almost all destroyed ; and 
Greece seemed to be thrown back many steps in the career 
of letters. As soon, however, as the government had ac- 
quired a degree of consistence, they turned their immediate 
attention to this object ; and, really, considering the pressure 
of so dreadful a war, effected wonders. They established 
schools of mutual instruction at Athens, Argos, Tripolizza, 
Missolonghi, and most of the islands. They decreed the 
formation at Argos of an academy on . a great scale, where 
every requisite of an intellectual culture might be united ; 
also of central schools and libraries. All these institutions 
are yet only in their infancy. 

Among the amusements of the modern Greeks, the dance 
seems to stand foremost. They scarcely meet without danc- 
ing ; and frequently, according to ancient custom, in the 
open air, or the areas of their churches. Many of their 
dances have a classic character, and are probably of antique 
origin. They have a grand circular dance, one of a very in- 
tricate figure, in celebration of the vintages, and one called 
the creene, supposed to have been invented by Theseus. 
Their dances are often choral, accompanied with songs ; and 
their taste for music is very general. Foot races, wrestling, 
throwing the disc, undoubtedly handed down from antiquity, 
still maintain their place among the youth. The athletse 
pursue the exercise of wrestling in a manner which appeared 



442 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



to Pouqueville entirely similar to that which, according to 
ancient writers, was practised at the Olympic games. They 
present] themselves undressed from the waist upward, music 
plays, they advance with measured steps, beating time, and 
animating themselves by humming certain airs. At the close 
of the contest a prize is bestowed on the victor. 

The dress of the Greeks is formed on the model of the 
Turkish, either from imitation, or from adoption of the same 
oriental pattern. Since the commencement of their indepen- 
dence, they have even made it a kind of triumph to display 
the green turban and other symbols which Moslem bigotry 
had prohibited to be worn by any infidel. In general, the 
attire of all who can afibrd it is gaudy and glittering, covered 
with gold and silver embroidery, and with the most brilliant 
colours. Above all, the arms of the chiefs aire profusely 
adorned, mounted with silver and even jewels. The simpli- 
city which a more refined taste has introduced into the cos- 
tume of the western Europeans is held by them in contempt. 
The Greek female walks abroad in a robe of red or blue cloth, 
over which is spread a thin flowing veil of muslin. At home 
she is, as it were, uncased ; and when the traveller is admitted 
into' the gynecseum, he finds the girl, like Thetis, treading on 
a soft carpet, her white and delicate feet naked ; her nails 
tinged with red. Her trousers of fine calico hang down 
loosely, the lower portion embroidered with flowers. Her veil is 
of silk, exactly suited to the form of the body, which it covers 
rather than conceals. A rich zone encompasses her waist, 
fastened before by clasps of silver gilded. She wears brace- 
lets of gold, and a necklace of the gold coin called zechins. 
Much time is spent in combing and braiding the hair. 

The food of the Greeks, through the combined influence 
of poverty, and the long fasts enjoined by their religion, is 
composed in a great measure of fish, vegetables, and fruit. 
Caviare is the national ragout, and, like other fish dishes, is 
eaten seasoned with aromatic herbs. Snails dressed in garlic 
are also a favourite dish. Their most valued fruits are olives, 
melons, water-melons, and especially gourds, which Pouque- 



444 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



ville says they prize almost like manna from heaven ; but 
their extravagant use is suspected to be injurious to the 
health. The Greek pastry, combined of honey and oil, is 
indigestible to any stomach but that of a Greek. 

The army of Greece consists of about 4060 men, and the 
navy of thirty-three vessels, among which are two sloops-of- 
war, three brigs, two steamers, twelve gun-boats, etc.* The 
military resources of Greece, however, are extensive, aijd in 
the war of independence they proved that they could bring a 
great body of fighting men into the field, and equip an efficient 
navy. 

The section Livadia comprises the country anciently known 
as Hellas. Athens, the capital of the kingdom, so famous for 
its ancient glory and its monuments of art, is rapidly reviving. 
In 1845 it had a population of 31,700, and its present amount 
is about 35,000. The city is laid out according to a regular 
plan, and contains many new and magnificent edifices, as well 
as all the accessories of modern civilization. A fine road 
connects Athens with its seaport Pyreus, and a considerable 
commerce is carried on. The Acropolis and Parthenon, as 
well as other monuments of ancient art, attract many strangers 
to the city. The other chief towns in this province are Lido- 
riki, Livadia, Amphusa, Lamia, New Patral, Atalante, Vra- 
chori, Missolonghi, and Lepanto. 

Morea, the ancient Peloponnesus, contains Napoli di Ro- 
mania, a city on the gulf of the same name, with 18,000 
inhabitants ; Pronia, a sort of suburb of Napoli di Romania, 
with 13,000 inhabitants; Argos, with 6000 inhabitants; Hy- 
dra, upon the island of the same name, noted for the bold and 
enterprising spirit of its people, contains many beautiful edi- 
fices, and 18,000 inhabitants; Patras, near the entrance of 
the Gulf of Lepanto, with extensive commerce, and 10,000 
inhabitants ; Arcadia, or Ryparissa, on the Gulf of Arcadia, 
with considerable trade, and 4000 inhabitants; Sparta, re- 
cently founded upon the site of old Sparta, containing already 
6000 inhabitants ; and other busy places. Corinth, once a 

* Ungewitter. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 



445 




Corinth. 

large and splendid city, has now not more than 2000 inhabi- 
tants. Its ruins attract many strangers. 

The principal islands are : Negropont, or Eubsea, with an 
area of 1480 square miles, and 10,000 inhabitants — the two 
chief cities, Chalkis and Karystos, having respectively 6000 
and 2000 inhabitants ; the Northern Sporades, comprising the 
four isles of Skyros, Skopelos, Skiathos, and Haloresus ; the 
Cyclades, comprising twenty-one islands in the Archipelago, 
the most populous and productive of which are Syra, contain- 
ing the important commercial city of Hermopolis, with 30,000 
inhabitants ; the isles of Tenos, the islands of Milo, Paros, 
Debos, Naxos, and Thera, or Santarin. Grain, wine, olive 
oil, and fruits are the chief productions of these islands, and 
their inhabitants are industrious and enterprising. 



The Ionian islands, seven in number, lying in the Ionian 
sea, at the entrance of the Adriatic, have been formed into an 



446 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



aristocratic republic, under the protection of Great Britain, 
whose sovereign appoints the lord high commissioner, the ac- 
tual ruler. The area of the seven islands is 1608 square miles. 
The climate is mild, and the soil, even of the mountainous 
portions, very fertile. The chief productions are olives, cur- 
rant wines, silks, and cottons ; and the commerce, which de- 
pends upon these commodities, is considerable. 

The government is aristocratic. The legislative power is 
vested in an assembly of forty members, eleven of whom are 
life-members, and the executive power in a senate composed 
of six members of the legislature, and a secretary of state, 
appointed by the lord high commissioner. The inhabitants 
are chiefly Greeks, but there are a large number of English 
and Italians. The Greeks are divided into three classes, the 
nobility, burghers, and peasantry. The nobility possess 
nearly all the real estate, and occupy all the higher political 
and ecclesiastical offices.* The people are generally enlight- 
ened, in consequence of the well-established school system ; 
and, being very industrious and enterprising, they may rise 
to great power and prosperity. Besides 1600 Greek militia, 
4000 regular troops are kept in the islands by Great Britain. 
Corfu is the chief British naval station in this part of the 
Mediterranean. 

The group consists of the island of Corfu, which contains 
the large and strong city of Corfu, and about 64,500 inhabi- 
tants; Paxo, noted for its olives, and containing 5000 in- 
habitants ; Santa Maura, containing several towns, and 18,600 
inhabitants ; Cephalonia, containing Argostoli, and other im- 
portant manufacturing and trading towns, and 70,000 inhabi- 
tants; Theaki, noted for excellent wines and olives; and 
containing 10,000 inhabitants ; Zante, very fertile and popu- 
lous, containing the important city of Zante, and about 
39,000 inhabitants ; and Cerigo, or Cythera, containing 
11,700 inhabitants. 

* TJngewitter, 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 447 



Italy, the theatre of so many great events, is one of the 
finest countries in the world in regard to soil and climate, 
and its people and institutions are calculated to awaken a 
deep interest. It is bounded on the north, and partly on the 
west, by the vast and continuous range of the highest Alps, 
which separate her from what she terms the ultra-montane 
regions of France, Germany, and Switzerland. All the rest of 
her circuit is enclosed by the Mediterranean and its great 
gulfs, of which the Adriatic, in the east, separates her from 
the opposite shores of Greece and Illyria. On the west she 
borders on the broadest basin of the Mediterranean, beyond 
which are the shores of France and Spain. On the extreme 
south she almost approaches the African coast. The greatest 
length is north and south from about 36° 40', or 700 English 
miles ; the extreme breadth, between the Rhone in Savoy and 
the Isonzo, lies between 6° and 18° west longitude, and may 
comprehend 350 English miles. This applies only to the 
broad belt of Northern Italy, as all the rest of the territory 
stretches obliquely in the form of a long narrow boot, the 
average breadth of which does not exceed 100 miles. The 
whole extent may be reckoned at 117,090 square miles, in- 
cluding Sicily and Sardinia. 

The surface of Italy is the most finely diversified of perhaps 
any country in the globe. It has the loftiest mountains, and 
the most beautiful plains in Europe. All the chains of Alps, , 
the Cottian, the Pennine, the Lepontine, the Rhsetian, the 
Julian, which belong only in part to other kingdoms, range 
along her frontier. Some of their proudest pinnacles, indeed, 
Mount Rosa, St. Bernard, the Simplon, St. Gothard, Oerteles, 
are within the Swiss territory ; but their white summits are 
seen amid the clouds in continuous grandeur along the whole 
extent of the plains of Lombardy and Piedmont. The Apen- 
nine is a chain purely Italian. It branches off first from the 



448 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE 



Maritime Alps on tlie western frontier, and runs for a long 
space eastward, leaving on the south only a narrow plain be- 
tween it and the Mediterranean ; while on the north it forms 
the boundary of Piedmont and Lombardy. On the Tuscan 
border it gradually bends rounds to the south and south-east, 
following, or rather prescribing the form of the peninsula, of 
which it occupies the centre in one unbroken line. It does 
not aspire to the awful height, or wrap itself in the perpetual 
snows of the Alps. Its highest pinnacle in the Abruzzo, 
called the great rock of Italy, does not rise above 9000 feet. 
These mountains are consequently, in this climate, throughout, 
covered with luxuriant foliage ; on the lower slopes are the 
vine and the olive, higher up, the various forest trees, among 
which the chestnut affords copious food to the inhabitants. 
They enclose finely cultivated valleys, and are full of deep, 
intricate, and wooded defiles. As their branches, dividing 
into low hills of varied form, touch upon the fine plains along 
the Mediterranean, they produce a variety of bright and 
smiling scenes, which entitle Italy to be considered as the pe- 
culiar region of landscape. In the southern quarter they 
assume a very formidable and volcanic character, pouring 
deluges of burning lava from the cone of Vesuvius, and con- 
vulsing Calabria with the most terrible earthquakes. Their 
aspect in that country is peculiarly formidable and rugged. 
Beyond the straits of Messina, where they present to the 
mariner the perilous forms of Scylla and Chary bdis, they 
cover Sicily with mountains, among which the celebrated 
peak of Etna rises to a height which only the Alps can sur- 
pass, while it throws out, amid the snows, volcanic eruptions 
as remarkable as those of Vesuvius. 

The plains of Italy are as remarkable for their extreme 
beauty as the mountains for their grandeur. The most ex- 
tensive is that of the Po, or of Lombardy, between the Alps 
and Apennines, which, being profusely watered, highly culti- 
vated, and under a genial climate, is, perhaps, the richest and 
most productive region in Europe. The Apennines, in their 
course southward through the centre of Italy, divide it into 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 449 



two plains, of wliicli that on the east is narrow, and often 
crossed by branches from the main ridge, which present their 
bold cliffs to the Adriatic. On reaching the Neapolitan 
territory, the plain becomes wider and more fertile, being 
covered with rich pastures and vast plantations of olives. But 
it is on the western side that nature most profusely displays 
her beauties, and that the grand seats of civilization and 
power have been established. The Tuscan champaign is 
scarcely considered as composed of more than two broad val- 
leys, those of Florence and of Pisa ; but the Qampagna Felice 
of Naples, the voluptuous environs of Capua, appear to unite 
all the richness of Lombardy, with aspects much more varied 
and picturesque, and are usually considered the most delight- 
ful country in Europe. All this side of Italy, however, is 
subject to a dreadful scourge, the maremma, or pestilential 
influence arising from a marshy and swampy surface. The 
Pontine Marshes are in this respect so dangerous, that in the 
hot season they can scarcely be crossed, even hastily, without 
the peril of death. But it is round the imperial city itself, 
and at its very gates, that the maremma appears peculiarly 
desolating. The campagna of Rome, which cultivation and 
draining rendered formerly one of the finest spots of Italy, 
has, under the present proud and indolent rule, been so far 
neglected, that the pernicious influences of its low and swampy 
soil have gained a fearful ascendency. They have rendered 
it uninhabitable for a great part of the year ; and this " storied 
plain" is become a desert, covered with a few scanty herds; 
and a deep solitude now encircles the fallen metropolis of the 
world. 

The rivers of Italy scarcely correspond to their fame, or to 
the lofty and classic recollections attached to their names. 
The Po, which waters the plain of Lombardy, and drains all 
the waters of the Alps and northern Apennine, can alone be 
ranked among the great rivers of Europe. It rises on the 
frontier of France, amid the loftiest recesses of the Cottian 
Alps, and rolls due east the whole breadth of Italy to the 
Adriatic, a course of about 400 miles. Its tributaries on both 

29 



450 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE : 



sides are very numerous, though none have space to expand 
into great rivers. The Alpine streams of the Tesino, the Ad- 
da, and the Oglio, are. absorbed soon after they have left their 
deep mountain valleys or lakes. The Adige makes its way 
entirely over from Germany in the valley between the Rhse- 
tian and Julian Alps, and falls into the Adriatic not far from 
the Po. These rivers being always full, and crossing the main 
line of communication, form important military barriers. 
They preserve also the plain in a state of perpetual fertility, 
though they often cause considerable calamity by their inun- 
dations. The tributaries from the south are also numerous, 
but, with the exception of the Tanaro and the river of Genoa, 
of no remarkable magnitude. The rivers of Lower Italy 
would scarcely deserve mention, but for the high associations 
of history and poetry. The far-famed Tiber itself, which on 
this ground, "with scorn the Danube and the Nile surveys," 
is described by Addison as deriving its scanty stores from an 
unfruitful source. It drains, however, a considerable extent 
of the Apennine, and its entire course may be 150 miles. The 
Arno of Florence, and the Lirio of Campagna, are only dis- 
tinguished for the beauty of the vales through which they 
meander. 

Lakes are not a feature very characteristic of Italy. 
Nevertheless, the waters which descend from the southern 
face of the Alps, spread into the long and winding lakes, 
Maggiore, Como, and Garda, which extend into the plain of 
Lombardy. The scenery of these lakes has not the grand and 
solemn character of those of Switzerland, which are enclosed 
in the depth of the highest Alps ; but they are beautiful in the 
extreme. The lower banks are bordered by gentle hills 
covered with vines and luxuriant verdure ; while their heads 
are crowned by the snowy summits of the Alps. The Apen- 
nine is not a lake-producing chain ; it only forms on its east- 
ern border a few that are small, and very beautiful, Perugia, 
Celano, Bolsena, &c. Sicily is also without lakes. 

The productive wealth of Italy has suffered greatly in the 
decline of her other sources of prosperity. Yet such is the 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 451 



felicity of her soil and climate, and so considerable are the 
remains of her industry, that the entire produce of her land 
and labour is still ample and valuable. 

Agriculture, as Smith has observed, is one of those plants 
which takes such deep root, that only extreme tyranny and 
misrule, and scarcely even these, can eradicate them. Italy 
is now dependent upon other countries for the superb fabrics 
with which she formerly supplied them; her ships no longer 
cover the Mediterranean ; her merchants, who were once her 
nobles and her princes, retain only the shadow of -mighty 
names. But the plains of the Po, the Arno, and the Gari- 
gliano are still cultivated like gardens; and the agricultural 
produce, after supplying a very dense population, affords a 
large surplus for export. 

Culture, in Italy, is conducted by a class of farmers to whom 
we have nothing analogous in our part of the world. The 
stock is furnished half by the landlord, and half by the 
tenant; and the produce is equally divided between them. 
The lease is only from year to year ; but the tenant who pays 
his rent, and does not give any serious offence, is never re- 
moved. Mr. Forsyth considers the productiveness as being 
invariably in proportion to the smallness of the property ; 
but the cause probably is, that, under a system of manage- 
ment where the landlord co-operates, the part of those hold- 
ing large estates committed to stewards and substitutes is 
commonly very ill done, and their avidity for money shows 
itself only in extortion. The property of the great ecclesias- 
tical nobles of Rome has thus been converted into a pesti- 
lential desert. In Lombardy and Tuscany, however, the 
mercantile intelligence of the opulent owners has been em- 
ployed in important rural improvements ; the wealth of these 
districts is chiefly due to the astonishing works constructed 
at an early period for the purpose of irrigation. Several of 
them were executed at periods prior to the era of authentic 
record ; others in the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth cen- 
turies. The aqueducts, sluices, and other works connected 
with them, are still the admiration of engineers. They are 



452 THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPB: 



now so divided and subdivided, as to convey the means of 
irrigation almost into every field ; and in this southern clime, 
where nothing almost but water is wanted, the increase of 
fertility is almost incredible. The produce is sometimes 
more than tripled ; and grass may be mown three, four, and five 
times in the year. The property of water, thus the grand instru- 
ment of cultivation, is fixed and distributed by the minutest 
regulations. Every spring newly discovered belongs to the 
proprietor of the ground, and is by him immediately converted 
into a little canal. The enclosures are small, and surrounded, 
for the sake of shade, by poplars and mulberry trees, which 
give the country a rich, wooded appearance. The farm-stead- 
ings are kept very neat and clean. In the Tuscan vale of 
the Arno, the irrigating system is practised on a different 
and still more elaborate method. The steeps of the Apen- 
nine, from which the waters poured down only in irregular 
torrents, seemed incompatible with such a process. Recourse 
was had to the terrace system, which, though not uncommon 
in Asia, is in Europe almost exclusively Italian. The pro- 
cesses by which level spots have been formed on the sides of 
the steepest mountains, naked rocks covered with earth, tor- 
rents confined within walls, and guided in little canals along 
almost every field, could only have been effected by the Flo- 
rentine merchants in their greatest prosperity. The people 
of the present age with difficulty support the heavy expenses 
of repairing and keeping up these most useful works. The 
cultivation in Naples does not require such elaborate pro- 
cesses. All that is there wanted is shade, which is procured 
by dividing the country into very small fields of less than an 
acre, and planting each side with high trees, round""which 
vines are trained. The land is almost entirely tilled with 
the spade; but the poor cultivator is obliged to give two- 
thirds instead of one-half, to the proprietol\ The Neapolitan 
Apennine is not cultivated with the same elaborate care as 
the Tuscan ; but nature profusely covers it with the chestnut 
and the olive. An entirely different system prevails in the 
great maremmas, or plains along the sea-coast, which, from 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 453 



some cause not fully ascertained, are filled at a certain season 
with air so pestilential, that human beings cannot remain for 
any length of time without the loss of health, and even of 
life. These wide plains, surrounding the greatest cities of 
Italy, present a scene of the most dreary desolation, and are 
covered merely with wandering herds, watched by a few 
mounted shepherds, who, however habituated to the climate, 
labour under constant debility. Once in about six years 
each spot is brought under the plough, for which purpose 
numerous bodies of labourers are brought from Rome and 
Sienna; and sometimes a hundred ploughs are employed at 
once, in order to get over as soon as possible this dangerous 
operation. The farmers are few in number, not more than 
eighty in the whole Roman state. They reside constantly in 
the cities, have large capitals, and long leases ; and some of 
them have live stock worth $70,000. 

The objects of agriculture in Italy are numerous and im- 
portant. They include grain of all the most valuable de- 
scriptions. The wheat of Sicily, and still more of Sardinia, 
is reckoned the finest in Europe. Maize is a prevalent grain, 
chiefly for the food of the lower orders ; and even rice is 
raised with success, and to a considerable extent, in the in- 
undated tracts of Lombardy. Silk is an universal staple, 
and of very fine quality. The export of it, in a raw or 
thrown state, since the decline of internal manufactures, has 
been the main ba sis of Italian commerce ; it is sent to all the 
manufacturing countries, and shares with that of China and 
Bengal the market of Britain. The vine finds almost every- 
where a favourable situation, and is cultivated ; but the juice 
no longer preserves the fame of the ancient Falernian. It is 
in general too sweet, and too imperfectly fermented, to admit 
of exportation. Mr. Eustace endeavours to turn this circum- 
stance to the honour of the national character, conceiving 
that the sober Italian, who drinks to quench thirst, has no 
motive to study the preparation of a delicate wine. The 
wines of Naples and Sicily are the best, and are sometimes 
seen at the tables of the great in foreign countries. The 



454 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



Muscatel and other Sicilian wines are so extremely luscious, 
that only one or two glasses can be taken at a time. That 
island, however, has another kind, the Marsala, often sent to 
America and the West Indies, where it passes for Madeira. 
The olive grows in very great luxuriance in Naples, on the 
eastern slope of the Apennines ; and the oil made from it is 
more highly esteemed than any other, at least for use in the 
finer woollen manufactures, whence it finds in England a 
steady demand, under the name of Gallipoli. Cattle are not 
particularly numerous ; but many of them, from their quali- 
ties, are singularly valuable. Pre-eminent among these are 
the cows fed in the pastures of the Parmesan, and the country 
around Lodi, which produce the cheese considered superior 
in richness and flavour to any other in the world. The cattle 
are of the Hungarian breed, crossed with the Swiss ; they 
are fed in the stall upon mown grass; and numbers of the 
small proprietors keep a dairy in common, that they may 
conduct the process on a large scale. The cattle on the 
Apennines are of a small gray kind, which Mrs. Graham 
praises as the most beautiful of their species ; but they give 
little milk, and after being employed in labour are driven 
down to the maremma to be fattened for the city markets. 
The sheep abound in all the mountainous districts, and their 
wool is generally esteemed. That of the Venetian hills has, 
by crossing with the Merino, been rendered almost perfect; 
and that of the mountains of Rome and Naples, though not 
so fine, is valued for the equality of its texture. A great 
part is black, and woven undyed, for the clothing of the gal- 
ley slaves and of the friars. Goats are reared in great num- 
bers amid the Apennine cliifs ; and their flesh and milk is 
the animal food chiefly used by the cultivators, with the ad- 
dition, however, of fresh pork. Hogs are reared also in great 
perfection : they are not pent up, and fed on refuse, but wan- . 
der at large through the woods, where they feed on nuts, 
mast, and roots ; and become even somewhat intelligent and 
sprightly animals. The hams and bacon thus produced are 
considered at Rome as a great luxury. The fruits of Italy 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 455 



are various and delicious, but none are of sucli value as the 
chestnuts, which in the upper regions constitute the food of a 
numerous body of mountaineers, who even dry and convert 
them into bread. The Apennine timber, consisting chiefly 
of (Jak and chestnut, is little used except for barrels. The 
saline plants of Sicily yield a barilla which rivals that of 
Spain. Among partial objects we may mention cotton in the 
southern provinces of Naples, which was produced in 1812, 
to the amount of sixty thousand bales, and the hemp of 
Bologna, which is of peculiar excellence. The Neapolitan 
manna, which exudes from a species of ash, is made a royal 
monopoly. 

The manufactures in Italy, once remarkable for their 
elegance and variety, are now everywhere in a state of decay, 
and present only specimens on a small scale of what formerly 
existed. The great and opulent citizens, after the military 
revolutions which deprived them of influence and security, 
seem everywhere to have retired to the country, and invested 
their capital in land. Silk was formerly the grand staple, 
particularly in the form of velvets and damasks, richly adorned 
with gold and silver embroidery. This manufacture still 
exists in most of the great cities, though on a reduced scale. 
The Venetian states, in 1795, had only 2701 silk weavers, and 
1163 gold and silver spinners. In 1802, the number of weavers 
in Turin had been reduced from 1400 to 500. The Lombard 
peasantry, however, still carry on the throwing of silk upon 
their farms, and it is exported in the shape of organzine for 
the use of the foreign manufacturer. The woollen manufac- 
tures of Florence were once immense, giving employment to 
thirty thousand persons; but they are now both few and 
coarse. Linen is considerable, and is often combined with 
cotton, which flourishes tolerably in the southern provinces 
of Naples, where the muslins of Tarento enjoy a good deal 
of reputation. Glass, in brilliant and curious forms, was 
once a celebrated and admired article ; and there are still 
made at Yenice, on the island of Murano, mirrors, glass 
beads, and tubes ; at Florence, the flasks bearing the name 



456 THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPEl 



of that city. It seems doubtful if the art that produced the 
ancient earthenware of Etruria still exist. In the Florentine 
and Roman States are made, without the use of the wheel, 
numerous jars of red earthenware for holding oil ; probably 
on a very antique model. The works of Doccia, near Flo- 
rence, produce goods resembling those of Staffordshire. The 
only fine porcelain of Italy is that made at Naples, which 
may vie with any in Europe. The potteries of Teramo, in 
the Abruzzo, are also very extensive. Some curious works, 
inlaid agate tables, cameos, mosaics, &c., which elsewhere 
rank with the fine arts, are carried to such an extent, at 
Florence and Rome, as to be articles of trade. The paper 
of Italy had formerly a high reputation ; and that of Belluno, 
and some parts of Tuscany, is still in repute. Extremely 
fine soap is made generally throughout Italy, but more par- 
ticularly in Sicily. The Tuscan manufacture of straw hats 
affords valuable employment to country girls, and yields a 
produce of about $750,000 a year. 

Commerce of Italy. This, though not nearly so great as 
it might be were her energies developed, is, notwithstanding, 
of very considerable importance and value. The principal 
articles of export are, raAV and thrown silk, silk manufactures, 
and olive oil ; the articles next in importance are, corn, wine, 
cheese, raisins, almonds and oranges, brimstone, barilla, 
liquorice, bark, shumac, straw hats and straw platting, marble, 
hemp, rags, &c. The imports consist principally of cotton 
goods, yarn, and wool; all sorts of colonial produce; timber 
and iron from the north of Europe ; dried and pickled cod, 
pilchards, &c. The commerce between England and Italy is 
very extensive. With the exception, indeed, of the United 
States, the East Indies, and Germany, the English exports 
to the Italian ports are greater than to those of any other 
foreign country. Cotton stuffs and cotton ' twist form by far 
the most important of all the articles sent to Italy; their real 
value in 1831 having amounted to no less than $7,500,000. 

The foreign trade of Italy is principally centered in the 
ports of Leghorn, Genoa, Trieste, Naples, and Palermo. The 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 457 



first two are very important entrepots ; and are usually sup- 
plied with large stocks of the most important products of the 
Black Sea and the Levant. 

Fishing is a pursuit for which the extensive coast of Italy, 
as well as its lakes and rivers, furnish ample scope, as they 
abound with fish of the most excellent quality. It is carried 
on with sufficient diligence for immediate consumption, but 
not so as either to furnish objects of trade, or to dispense 
with a large importation. Anchovies, however, are shipped 
in large quantities from Sicily for Leghorn; and it seems to 
be from some defect in the mode of cure that they do not 
equal the Gorgona anchovies. On the western coast of the 
same island is a considerable coral fishery. Amber, as a 
marine production, may also be mentioned as found more 
abundantly on the Sicilian than on any other coast. The 
tunny fishery of Sardinia is the most extensive in the Medi- 
terranean. 

The national character and the state of society in Italy 
are marked by prominent and striking features. The people, 
in some respects, are perhaps the most polished and refined 
of any in the world. While the German and many English 
nobles placed their enjoyment in hunting and the pleasures 
of the table, music, painting, poetry, and assemblies for con- 
versation formed the delight of the Italians. The one spends 
much of his fortune in keeping a splendid table, stud, and 
pack of hounds ; the other in building palaces, and adorning 
them with masterpieces of painting and sculpture. The 
French are, perhaps, still more gay and social; but their 
gayety is more of a noisy, empty, and animal kind; while the 
Italian derives his delight from objects of taste, and feels 
them with deeper sensibility. The nobles of this country 
were from the first civic ; and all their habits have continued 
to be those of a city. What they call the chase has no re- 
semblance to the bold adventurous field-sports of other coun- 
tries, but consists merely in driving a number of animals into 
an enclosed place,and shooting them at their ease. No pains 
are bestowed on the improvement of their estates, which are 



458 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



managed according to a mechanical routine, under the care 
of stewards, who often embezzle a great part of the produce. 
Being excluded also from all concern in public affairs, and 
from the administration of the state, they have become es- 
tranged from habits of manly and energetic exertion. They 
pass their lives in a listless and lounging apathy, making it 
their sole object to while away the hours in the most easy and 
agreeable manner. Their day is spent in a regular routine 
of attendance on mass, on their lady, on the theatre, the 
Casino, and the Corso. As the title and rank of a noble 
descends to all his posterity, the great increase in their 
number, by reducing them to a miserable and proud poverty, 
tends still more to degrade them in the public eye. Certain 
remains of mercantile habits are offensive to English observers. 
Ostentatious magnificence is combined with sordid economy; 
the most superb equipages and apartments are let out to 
foreigners, who are not even quite sure of honest dealing. 
Attached to many of the Florentine palaces is a little shop, 
where wine is retailed in the smallest quantities. But the 
deepest reproach of Italian manners seems to be the estab- 
lished system of cicisbeism, by which every married lady 
must have her lover or cavaliere servente, who imposes on 
himself the duty, wherever she is or goes, to dangle after her 
as her devoted slave. This connection is said to be not 
decidedly, or at least certainly, criminal, as our manners 
would lead us to suppose ; but rather to form an ^tat into 
which it is necessary to enter, on pain of expulsion from the 
fashionable circles, and which is continued according to a 
routine of almost mechanical observance ; the gallant speak- 
ing not of the mistress whom he loves, but of her whom he 
serves. It is obvious, however, that it must, at the very 
least, imply the sacrifice of all that is happy or respectable 
in domestic life, attended as it is with an' anathema against 
the married pair, if they show the slightest symptoms of 
respect or regard fo^ each other. Still charity and humanity 
appear conspicuous virtues in these nobles. The misericordia, 
an institution -diffused throughout Tuscany, consists in Flo- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 459 



rence of four hundred persons, many of high rank, who devote 
themselves to personal attendance on the sick, superintend- 
ing the hospitals, distributing food to the patients, and 
■watching the manner in which they are treated. These 
duties, indeed, they perform under the disguise of long black 
vestments, which cover and conceal the face. There is 
another society for searching out and relieving the poor who 
have seen better days, and are ashamed to beg: but in Mr. 
Forsyth's time their zeal had so far relaxed, that they be- 
stowed alms only upon application; and Mr. Williams con- 
siders their original object as wholly lost sight of. The 
charitable institutions of Naples, Rome, Milan, and Genoa, 
appear also to be most extensive; and the bounty bestowed, 
especially at the convents, is considered as one of the chief 
causes of the idleness and mendicity which prevails in the 
great cities. Temperance must be admitted as another virtue 
of the Italians. Notwithstanding the abundance and cheap- 
ness of wine, intoxication is scarcely known, even among the 
lowest ranks. English visiters complain that, amid the pro- 
fusion of other forms of courtesy, little food or drink is 
vouchsafed to them, even by the most opulent. A dinner is 
an event of the rarest occurrence; and the amusements of 
the evening are only those of intellect or society, without any 
refreshment whatever. The accompaniment of real polite- 
ness and civility, however, shows that this proceeds not from 
want of hospitable feelings, but of that importance which is 
attached to good cheer by other nations. 

The lower ranks form the mass of the Italian population, 
with scarcely any intervening class between them and the 
nobles. They share, in some degree, the refined tastes and 
manners of the higher ranks. The common shopkeepers of 
Florence and Rome possess a taste in the fine arts, and some- 
times even in poetry, which is unknown in the most polished 
circles beyond the Alps. They delight also in conversation, 
which they support with peculiar animation, and with ges- 
ticulations the most varied and expressive of any Em'opean" 
people. The peasantry are, on the whole, a poor, quiet, 



460 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE! 



contented, orderly race ; spending, not very wisely, all their 
little savings in finery for their wives and daughters. But 
the populace of the great towns display a character peculiarly 
idle, tumultuary, and unlicensed. They seem to combine the 
characters of citizens, beggars, and bandits. The lazzaroni 
of Naples, in particular, form a numerous body, who exist 
almost wholly out of the pale of regular society. The climate 
enables them to live without houses, almost without clothes, 
and with only a daily handful of maccaroni. Having obtained 
this by theft, by begging, or some little occasional wort, they 
abandon themselves to luxurious indolence, or the indulgence 
of wayward humours. They are a set of wild, merry rogues, 
with all the rude energy of savages, full of humour, address, 
ready argument, and quick repartee. In political convulsions 
they have made very signal displays of energy, usually in 
defence of the reigning family, to whom they are strongly 
attached. The practice of assassination, whether for hire or 
on the impulse of passion, which was long peculiarly Italian, 
is said to have been considerably reduced by the French. 
They deprived the sanctuaries of their right to protect the 
assassin ; and that right has not since been restored to them. 
Another too numerous class are the bandits, who, established 
in the recesses of the Apennines, form a sort of separate 
people, and carry on their vocation on a great and regular 
scale. The strength of their line of mountain positions, 
which runs close and parallel to that of the high road through 
Italy, affords them opportunities of which they know well how 
to profit. The road from Rome to Naples is their favourite 
haunt, and even when guarded by piquets of soldiers at the 
distance of every mile, it cannot always be travelled with 
safety. They carry on their trade in a systematic manner, 
and not without some adherence to the principles of honour 

• when it has once been pledged. Their grand aim is to carry 
off some person of distinction, and then to exact a ransom 
proportioned to his means and dignity. The French and 

"^ even the German troops stationed in Naples rooted out some 
of these dens of banditti ; but, under the supine indolence of 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 461 



the Neapolitan government, they are again recrniting their 
strength. 

The mansions of Italy are celebrated for the splendour 
and art displayed both in their form and interior decoration. 
Those built by the nobility in Rome, Florence, Genoa, and 
Venice, are usually dignified with the name of palaces ; and 
their classic exterior, spacious apartments, and the works of 
painting and sculpture with which they are adorned, render 
them often more interesting to the spectator than those of the 
greatest monarchs beyond the Alps. They are maintained, 
however, rather for show than use ; all the finest apartments 
being employed as galleries of exhibition, while those in which 
the family reside are of small dimension, in the upper stories, 
and destitute of many of the comforts which, to an English 
gentleman, appear indispensable : in short, to him they ap- 
pear little better than garrets. The taste for architectural 
beauty descends even to the lower ranks. The houses of the 
little farmers in Tuscany and Lombardy are adorned with 
porticos and colonnades, and often display a classic aspect. 

The dress of the Italians does not seem to have any fea- 
tui-es peculiar or strictly national. Among the upper ranks, 
French fashions prevail ; many of those in the country, and 
especially of the hilly districts, display a picturesque variety, 
which being not unaccompanied with taste, produces often a 
very pleasing effect. 

In the food of the Italians, who are generally very tempe- 
rate, we know not any very characteristic article, except mac- 
caroni. In the rest of Europe it has not been generally 
adopted as an article of diet, but it is presented as a delicacy 
at the tables of the opulent. 

Italy is divided into five great portions : — 1. The Eccle- 
siastical States ; 2. Tuscany ; 3. The Lombardo-Yenetian 
kingdom, or Austrian Italy, of which we have already spoken ; 
4. The States of the King of Sardinia; 5. Naples and 
Sicily. 

The Ecclesiastical States have lost that paramount import-' 
ance which they once possessed, and are the least flourishing 



462 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE! 



and powerful of all the divisions of Italy. Nevertheless, as 
they contain Rome, with all its stupendous monuments, and 
were the central theatre of all the ancient grandeur of Italy, 
they still excite an interest superior to that of any other of 
these celebrated regions. They form a central band, extend- 
ing entirely across the country, and separating the north from 
the south of Italy. Since the acquisition of Ferrara, their 
eastern portion shoots a large branch northward as far as 
the Po. They are thus in contact on one side with Tuscany 
and Lombardy, on the other with Naples. The Apennines 
pass entirely through them, producing on their borders some 
of the most beautiful scenery in Europe, the Lake of Pe- 
rugia, the Falls of Terni, the magic scenes of Tivoli and 
Frascati. These mountains divide the states into two un- 
equal plains, of which the eastern is the most extensive, and 
contains the city of Rome ; but it is in a great measm-e waste 
and pestilential. The western, comprising the Bolognese and 
the March of Ancona, is more fertile and better cultivated, 
but much narrower, being closely hemmed in by the Apen- 
nines and the Adriatic. There is very little manufacturing 
industry of any description. The annats, contributions, and 
indulgeuQes, which anciently maintained the pontifical sove- 
reign in such pomp, have disappeared with the decaying faith 
of the catholic world. 

The population of the Ecclesiastical States is about 
2,970,000 inhabitants, divided into four classes, the clergy, 
nobility, burghers, and farmers. The nobility comprises 
princes and dukes belonging to collateral lines of the popes, 
the senatorial aristocracy and the lower degrees of the 
nobility. 

The form of government is an elective monarchy. The 
pope, whose power is both spiritual and temporal, is elected 
out of the college of the cardinals, whose number is fixed at 
seventy. Pius IX., the reigning pope, known before his elec- 
tion as Jos. Maria, Count Mastia Ferreti, Archbishop of 
Imola, was chosen on the 16th of June, 1846. The Roman 
Catholic is, of course, the established church, which, in this 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 463 



country, is governed by six archbisliops and seventy-two 
bishops. In 1847, there were, besides, 53,000 secular and 
regular clergymen. The religious orders are Mistins, Barna- 
bites, Benedictines, Camaldulenses, Capuchins, Carmelites, 
Cistercians, Cselestians, Cordelians, Dominicans, Jesuits, 
Minims, Philippines, Recollectians, Somascians, Trinitarians, 
Theatins, etc. All creeds are said to be tolerated ; but this 
is denied. There are about eight thousand Jews in Rome 
and about five thousand of them in Ancona.* Although the 
means of education are very limited in extent, and the mass 
of the people of the States of the Church are grossly igno- 
rant, there are seven universities — at Rome, Bologna, Fer- 
rara, Perugia, Macerata, Ferno, and Camerino. 

The States of the Church are divided into twenty-one sec- 
tions, thirteen of which are called delegations. Bologna, 
Ferrara, Ravenna, Urbino, Pesaro, Forli, and Velletri are 
called legations, while the province of Rome bears the name 
of Comarca, and that of Loretto, the appellation of Commis- 
sariat. 

The Oomarca di Roma contains the great capital, the for- 
mer metropolis of the world — Rome. The city is situated 
on the Tiber, about eighteen miles from its mouth. In 1847, 
Rome had a population of 180,000 inhabitants. Since the 
revolution, the number has considerably decreased. 

The outlines of ancient Rome, and its relation to the modern 
city, may be distinctly traced. Forsyth distinguishes three 
cities called Rome ; that which the Gauls destroyed, that 
which Nero burned, and that which Nero rebuilt. The walls 
begun by Servius Tullius, and completed by Aurelian, pre- 
sent specimens of all the successive forms of construction 
which prevailed in Rome. The modern city is still enclosed 
by them ; but it covers only a portion of the vast site occu- 
pied by the mistress of the world. It extends chiefly over 
the Campus Martins and along the Tiber, forming a curve 
round the base of the capitol. The spectator must turn to 

* Ungewitter. 



464 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



the other side of that hill before he is met by the genius of 
ancient Rome. There, scattered in vast and shapeless masses 
over the seven hills, appear its ruins. They stand in lonely 
majesty, with groves of funereal cypress waving over them. 
Its palaces, its tombs, its baths, its temples with their pointed 
obelisks, stand majestic but solitary monuments amid the 
extensive waste of time and desolation. The Palatine, which 
originally contained the whole city, which remained always 
its chief and most populous quarter, and is represented by 
Cicero as crowded with the senate, the orders, and with all 
Italy, presents a mere landscape with two solitary villas and 
a convent. The temples, palaces, and porticos lie in such 
shapeless heaps, that the utmost learning of the modern 
architect and antiquary have been wasted in fruitless at- 
tempts to discover their plan and their site. Of the imperial 
palace only some vaulted subterraneous chambers of one wing 
remain. In general, it may be observed, that, with the ex- 
ception of a few grand objects, the details of ancient Rome 
have escaped the most anxious researches of the learned. 
We cannot tell the site of many of the objects even most 
famous in antiquity. We cannot say, "Here stood the house 
of Maecenas, of Cicero, of Horace." However, the Capitol, 
the Forum, the hills, are stamped with those characters of 
antiquity that cannot be mistaken : " a walk from the Capitol 
to the Coliseum comprises the history of ages." The leading 
features in Rome are the ancient edifices ; the modern edi- 
fices ; the works of painting ; and the works of sculpture. 

Of the ancient edifices, the majestic Parthenon and the 
great Coliseum are the chief wonders. Thfe Baths, erected 
and adorned by the emperors, attract much attention""by their 
extent and beauty, while the columns of Trajan and Antoni- 
nus aflford material for modern artists. 

Of the modern edifices of Rome, thofee devoted to ecclesi- 
astical purposes are by far the most conspicuous ; for, though 
Venice and Genoa may compete in the splendour of palaces, 
in churches no other city can be compared with this metro- 
polis of the catholic world. They present also specimens of 







30 



466 



THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 




Koman peasants. 

successive styles of architecture ; many of them having been 
begun in the first centuries, and enlarged and embellished by 
a long line of pontifis, till they have become perfect treasures 
of wealth and art. Some of the series were not in the very 
purest taste ; but as, even in the dark ages, they were often 
modelled after ancient structures which were always present 
to inspire ideas of grandeur, none of them exhibit marks of 
total degeneracy and deformity. Foremost among the 
churches of Rome, and of the world, stands the majestic front 
and sublime dome of St. Peter's. On its site has always been 
the principal church of Rome, erected by Constantino, and 
rendered sacred by containing the ashes of the apostle from 
whom the bishops of Rome claimed their descent and autho- 
rity. After being embellished during successive ages, it 
began to threaten its fall, when Nicholas V. and Julius II. 
conceived the project of erecting in its stead a new and nobler 
structure. It was carried on for a hundred years, by eighteen 
pontiffs, all devoting to it a large portion of their treasure, 
and employing upon it the talents of Bramante, Michael 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 467 



Angelo, Bernini, and other artists, the greatest of that most 
brilliant age. It is surprising with what unity the successive 
artists worked over each other's plans. The first, indeed, is 
liable to criticism ; but the colonnade and the dome are per- 
fectly unrivalled, and render it the most magnificent structure 
that ever was reared by mortal hands. The Basilica of St. 
Paul is still more ancient, having been built by Theodosius, 
and presents great vestiges of ancient magnificence, consist- 
ing in painted walls, and long ranges of marble and porphyry 
columns. Though several times repaired, it has still, how- 
ever, a forlorn, unfinished, and almost ruinous appearance; 
presenting the aspect of a desolate and melancholy monu- 
ment. The church of St. John Lateran claims a still higher 
dignity; being, in preference to St. Peter's, the regular 
cathedral church of Rome ; on which ground it assumes the 
lofty title of mother and head of the churches of the city and 
the world. It was in fact adorned with three hundred an- 
tique pillars, which would, it is supposed, have formed the 
finest pillared scenery in existence ; but, unhappily, it came 
into the hands of a modern architect who seems to have been 
actuated by an antipathy to pillars, and who walled up a 
great proportion of them. The San Maria Maggiore is another 
church, of which Eustace doubts if any architectural exhibi- 
tion surpasses or even equals it. The two magnificent colon- 
nades, and the canopy which form its interior, constitute its 
prominent beauties. Besides these four principal churches, 
Rome contains numerous others, distinguished by their anti- 
quity and embellishments, especially of painting and sculp- 
ture. The other leading ornament of modern Rome con- 
sists in its palaces. A fondness, and almost a rage, for 
erecting magnificent structures generally possesses the Italian 
nobles, and displays itself peculiarly in their town residences, 
which are hence usually dignified with the appellation of 
palace. So vast are those of Rome, that, with their appen- 
dages, they cover more ground than the modern habitations. 
They do not in general display the same lofty style of archi- 
tecture as the churches or temples. Their place in the street 



468 THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPE: 



does not allow room for the open gallery and spacious colon- 
nade ; and the external ornaments, even of the most splendid, 
consist chiefly in pilasters. Their chief attraction is in the 
spacious courts and porticos "vrithin, the vast halls and lofty 
apartments, with the pillars, the marbles, the statues, and 
the paintings that furnish and adorn them in such profusion. 
Indeed, they are maintained, in a great measure, as galleries 
of painting and sculpture. These superb mansions are now 
in a state of decay. 

The works of painting and sculpture with which Kome is 
adorned excel those of any other city in the world. The Ro- 
man school surpasses any in modern times in force and expres- 
sion, the qualities which constitute the highest excellence of 
art ; but, besides the works of Raphael, its leader, and of his dis- 
ciples, the munificence of the pontiffs enabled them to attract 
the great masters from other cities of Italy. Michael An- 
gelo, though a Florentine, executed scarcely any of his works 
at Florence; his Last Judgment, his Creation, his Prophets, 
are all painted on the walls of the Vatican. Of the school 
of Bologna, the Farnese Gallery, by Annibal Caracci, the St. 
Jerome of Domenichino, the Aurora and Magdaline of Guido, 
rank as the best works of those respective artists. The series 
of Raphael's frescoes in the Vatican is probably the grandest 
in the world; for his Cartoons, preserved at Hampton Court, 
England, though equal in design, are comparatively unfinished. 
The choicest works of ancient sculpture having been employed 
to adorn the Roman temples and palaces, were dug up from 
beneath them to adorn the modern city; these, however, 
being all movable, suffered still more than the paintings by 
the French system of spoliation, and all those which were of 
any value were carried away, that the Louvre might be made 
the centre of art. Even in the course of the restoration, 
several have been withdrawn. The Borghese collection, with 
its Hermaphrodite and Gladiator, remain at Paris ; the Venus 
has been taken to Florence, and the Hercules to Naples. 
Rome, however, retains the Laocoon, the Gladiator, and a 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 469 



profusion of other works, still much superior to those found 
in any other city. 

Modern Rome, taken altogether, and independent of the 
many single majestic objects, cannot be called a fine city. 
The streets are narrower than those of London, though wider 
than those of Paris, and are covered with a reticular pave- 
ment, well suited for carriages, but annoying to the foot pas- 
senger. The houses are built of stone, plastered with a species 
of stucco, which is extremely durable, yet can never convey to 
our minds the same ideas of richness and solidity. But the 
deadliest charge brought against Rome is its excessive dirt, in 
which it may vie with Lisbon itself. Filth is accumulated even 
in presence of the most majestic piles, to such an extent as 
renders them unapproachable to a nation so punctilious in 
this particular as our own. The whole pavement around 
the Pantheon is revolting to every sense, sprinkled with blood 
and filth, entrails of pigs, or piles of stale fish. Few vestiges 
remain of the one hundred and forty-four cloacae, which were 
so salutary to the ancient city. The Roman Forum, which 
especially recalls such high associations, and is adorned with 
the most majestic ruins, being now converted into a cow- 
market, makes a profuse display of every description of filth. 
The population, however, has increased, in consequence of 
the resort of strangers, and is supposed to be nearly 150,000. 

The villas in the vicinity of Rome form an additional orna- 
ment to the city, especially the extensive gardens of Lucullus, 
of Maecenas, of Sallust, were peculiarly spacious and magni- 
ficent; and those of the modern palaces, though on a scale 
less vast, partake of the same character. Several command 
extensive views over Rome, anciently adorned with those 
stupendous edifices which were the wonder of the world, but 
now, perhaps, more interesting when the same edifices are 
lying on the ground, and overgrown with cypress. No spot 
commands so fine a view over these awful and immortal re- 
mains as the Farnese gardens on the Palatine Mount. Of 
these villas, the Villa of Borghese is the finest and most 
ornamented, and its walks, which, however, are too much in 



470 THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPE: 



the old formal style, are open for the recreation of the public. 
The Villa Ludovisi contains the Aurora of Guercino; and 
the Villa Aldohrandini has the representation of a Marriage, 
which is viewed as the finest relic of ancient painting. 

The more distant environs of Rome consist, in the first 
instance, of that wide campagna, or plain, which its pestilen- 
tial air has devoted to almost total desolation. In approach- 
ing, however, to the branches of the Apennine, a singular 
variety of picturesque scenery begins to open. Gentle hills, 
with little lakes embosomed in them, and swelling into bold 
and lofty mountains, crowned with extensive forests ; cascades 
dashing down their steeps, and smiling plains intervening; — 
these, with brilliant skies and balmy airs, are common to this 
region with many others; but it derives peculiar interest 
from the edifices, noble in ruin, which adorn the brow of 
almost every hill, and from the recollection of the many 
illustrious ancipnts, who in these shades wooed the Muses, 
and sought recreation from the toils of war and of empire. 

Tivoli, a town on the Teverne, with a beautiful cataract, 
and numerous remains of antiquity, has six thousand inha- 
bitants. The other towns of the province are Albano, with 
five thousand six hundred inhabitants ; Castel Gaudolfo ; 
Frascati, with four thousand inhabitants ; Palestrina ; Subi- 
aco, with six thousand inhabitants, and Fiumicino. 

The delegation of Velletri contains a city of the same name, 
with twelve thousand inhabitants ; Terracina, amid the Pon- 
tine marshes, with eight thousand inhabitants, and Cori and 
Norma, with respectively four thousand and two thousand in- 
habitants. The delegation of Frosinone contains a city of 
the same name, situated on the Coza, with seven thousand 
five hundred inhabitants, and Ponte Corvo, with six thousand 
inhabitants. The delegation of Rieti, a city of the same 
name with twelve thousand six hundred inhabitants, and Mag- 
liano, with five thousand five hundred inhabitants. The dele- 
gation of Spoleto contains Spoleto, Narni, and Terni, towns 
with from five thousand to eight thousand inhabitants each. 
The delegation of Civita Vecchia, contains Civita Vecchia, a 



472 THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPi): 



fortified seaport, which has ten thousand inhabitants, and 
several small towns. The delegation of Viterbo contains 
Viterbo, at the foot of Cimino, with fifteen thousand inhabit- 
ants, Montefiascone, on Lake Bolsena, with four thousand 
five hundred inhabitants, and Aquapendente, Ronciglione, 
and Bolsena. The delegation of Orvieto contains a town of 
the same name, with eight thousand inhabitants, and Civita 
Castellana. The delegation of Perugia contains the city of 
Perugia, which has many remarkable churches and thirty-two 
thousand inhabitants, Assisi, Foligno, with sixteen thousand 
inhabitants, Spello, Citta di Castello, Noviera, and Citta della 
Pieve. The delegation of Ascoli on the coast of the Adriatic 
contains the important town of Ascoli, Montalte, and Ripa- 
transone. The delegation of Fermo contains a city of the 
same name having twenty thousand inhabitants, and a small 
seaport called Porto di Fermo. The delegation of Camerino 
contains a considerable toAvn of the same name. The dele^ 
gation of Macerata contains the important city of Macerata, 
which has eighteen thousand inhabitants, and Fabriano and 
Tolentino. The commissariato of Loretto contains the town 
of Loretto, renowned for its shrine, and having eight thou- 
sand inhabitants. The delegation of Ancona contains the 
fortified seaport of Ancona, which has considerable trade and 
thirty-two thousand inhabitants, and the towns of lesi and 
Osimo. The legation of Urbino e Pesaro contains Ur- 
bino at the foot of the Apennines, having fourteen thousand 
inhabitants, Sinigaglia, a fortified port on the Adriatic, with 
eleven thousand inhabitants, Fano with seventeen thousand 
inhabitants, Pesaro, with fifteen thousand inhabitants, Fos- 
sombrone, and Gubbio. The legation of Forli contains the 
three large towns of Forli, Ccsena, and Rimini. The lega- 
tion of Ravenna contains Ravenna, in a marshy country near 
the Adriatic, with twenty-six thousand inhabitants, and many 
antiquities, Faenza, with twenty thousand inhabitants, and 
Imola, and Cervia. The legation of Bologna contains the 
important city of Bologna, situated in a romantic country, 
with magnificent edifices, famous literary institutions, and 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 473 



seventy-five thousand inhabitants, and the towns of Cento 
and Medicina. The legation of Ferrara contains Ferrara, a 
city on a branch of the Po, in a marshy country, with twenty- 
eight thousand inhabitants, Commacchio, with one thousand 
inhabitants, and the town of Ponte di Lago Scuro. The 
delegation of Benevento contains a city of the same name, 
with a remarkable cathedral and fifteen thousand inhabitants. 



San Watino. 

The republic of San Marino, which is the smallest of the 
European states, is situated upon a mountain between An- 
cona and Florence, and is entirely surrounded by the papal 
territories. It was founded by St. Marinus in 469, and has 
existed independently for thirteen centuries. The constitu- 
tion is mixed of aristocracy and democracy. The executive 
is vested in two Capitano reggenti, who are elected for the 
period of six months. The regular military consists of only 
twenty-four privates and seven officers ; but the militia com- 
prises eight hundred and fifty men. Besides the capital, San 
Marino, which has six thousand inhabitants, the republic has 
four villages, Serravalle, Faetano, Acquavira, and Feglio. 
The people are industrious, cheerful, contented, and pros- 
perous. 

5rf)e Hingtrom of tfte ^too Sicilies. 

The kingdom of Naples, or, as it is called, of the Two Si- 
cilies, is the most considerable in Italy for extent and popu- 
lation ; in which respects it approaches to the rank of the 
great monarchies ; but the supine and indolent character of 
its government almost prevents it from having any weight in 
the political system. Neapolsi, though a place of some con- 
sequence under the Romans, was not until the Middle Ages a 
kingdom, in which the republican spirit, so active in the 



474 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE; 



nortli of Italy, was early subdued. Naples was successively 
governed by branches of the house of Austria, and of the 
Spanish Bourbons, which last is now on the throne. On the 
approach of the French revolutionary army in 1795, Naples 
yielded without any resistance, except that spontaneously 
made by the despised lazzaroni. During the greater part of 
the revolutionary war, the king was supported in Sicily by a 
British fleet and army, and on the triumph of the allied 
cause, was reinstated in all his territories. With the excep- 
tion of a short and abortive attempt to establish a constitu- 
tional system, the government has always been absolute ; yet 
the people suffer less from the oppression of the crown, than 
from the exorbitant privileges of the nobles. The accession 
of Sicily, in exchange for Sardinia, effected in 1720 through 
Austrian influence, rendered the kingdom much more valuable 
and compact. These two members are, however, so very dis- 
tinct, that it will be necessary to consider them separately. 

Naples, the southern extremity of Italy, after forming for 
some space a continuation of the long narrow peninsula which, 
comprises most part of that country, branches finally into 
the two smaller peninsulas of Otranto and Calabria. The 
Apennines fill its interior, shooting out branches to its bound- 
ing promontories; they in many places spread wider, and 
assume still more rugged and awful forms than in the north- 
ern part of their line ; and they harbour the most formidable 
troops of banditti which infest Italy. They leave, however, 
along the coast, wide plains and extended valleys, blessed 
with the most genial climate, and the richest soil of any 
country in Europe, or, perhaps, in the world. The culture, 
also, notwithstanding various administrative defects. Is so 
diligent as to support a very numerous and very dense popu- 
lation. 

The area of Naples is 31,556 square mil'es, and its popular 
tion numbers 6,323,000 inhabitants. Naples is divided into 
fifteen provinces, viz : — Naples, Terra di Lavoro, proper, Prin- 
cipato Citeriore, Principato Ulteriore, Abruzzo Ulteriore I., 
Abruzzo Ulteriore II., Abruzzo Citeriore, Molise, Capitanata, 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 475 



Terra di Barri, Terra d'Otranto, Bailicata, Calabria Cite- 
riore, Calabria Ulteriore I., and Calabria Ulteriore II. 

The section of Terra di Lavoro, wliich comprises several 
provinces. Naples the largest city in Italy. In 1845, this 
city had 400,813 inhabitants, of which number, 7,420 were 
priests, monks, and nuns, and about 80,000 lazzarqni. 

Naples fully maintains its place among the most beautiful 
European capitals : this is not owing to its architecture ; for 
though the edifices are lofty and solid, the streets tolerably 
wide, particularly the Strada de Toledo, which is a mile in 
length, yet all the particular buildings are characterized by 
that bad taste which has always ruled at Naples, and to com- 
pensate for which, marbles, gilding, and decoration, have 
been vainly lavished on its churches and palaces. Taken 
collectively, however, Naples presents to the sea an immense 
line of lofty edifices, producing a general pomp of effect, 
and forming a commanding feature in the matchless land- 
scape. Its bay, occupying a wide circuit of sixteen miles, 
everywhere bounded with vineyards, hills, woods, convents, 
villages ; the golden shores of Baise, the beautifully varie- 
gated islands of Ischia and Procida, with the verdant sides 
and lofty cone of Vesuvius : all these, viewed under a brighter 
sun than ever shines in the regions beyond the Alps, have 
been considered as composing the most splendid picture which 
nature presents to the human eye. The interior of Naples 
exhibits a most singular living scene ; every trade and every 
amusement being carried on in the open air. " The crowd 
of London," says Forsyth, "is a double line in quick mo- 
tion ; it is the crowd of business. The crowd of Naples con- 
sists in a general tide rolling up and down, and in the middle 
of this tide an hundred eddies of men. You are stopped by 
a carpenter's bench, you are lost among shoemaker's tools, 
you dash among the pots of a raaccaroni stall. Every bar- 
gain sounds like a battle ; the popular exhibitions are full of 
grotesque ; they consist of Punch held as the representative 
of the nation ; of preaching ; selling Agnus Deis ; dancing 
to the guitar; or listening to old tales." The higher classes 



476 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



are generally accused of licentiousness, though Eustace thinks 
the charge somewhat exaggerated. A very literary spirit 
prevails ; the Neapolitans boast that as many books are pub- 
lished at Naples as at Paris ; and that, if the world would 
judge impartially, they would find the one as good as the 
other : but this opinion does not prevail in other countries. 
Most ample opportunities of study are certainly afibrded, by 
four libraries open to the public ; one of which, compounded 
of the Farnese and other libraries transported from Rome, 
comprises many curious and valuable works. With these 
were conveyed some of the finest specimens of ancient sculp- 
ture, the Torso, the Hercules, the Urania; and some fine 
specimens have been appended from the greatest Italian 
schools ; but Naples could boast no great painters of its own, 
and has, therefore, no frescos of any importance. One 
bright redeeming quality in the Neapolitans is charity : their 
hospitals are numerous, richly endowed, and supported by 
ample benefactions ; and persons of the first rank, assuming 
the dress of religious fraternities, not only superintend these 
establishments, but watch the sick-bed of the patient. The 
Neapolitans set an example, which seems worthy of imita- 
tion, in having a rural hospital for recovering the health of 
invalids. They have also conservatorii or schools, where the 
children of the lower ranks are initiated in trades, by which 
they may gain their subsistence. A great part of these is 
devoted to the teaching of music ; and is unfortunately com- 
bined with that horrid mode of attaining excellence in it 
which is peculiar to Italy, and which, though prohibited by 
the government, continues still to be practised. Naples may 
be considered as the musical capital of Italy : the greatest 
composers have been its citizens ; and its opera is unrivalled. 
"In London and Paris," says Dr. Moore, " the people who fill 
the streets are mere passengers, hurrying from place to place 
on business; and when they choose to converse, or to amuse 
themselves, they resort to public walks or gardens ; at Naples, 
the citizens have fewer avocations of business to excite their 
activity; they have no public walks to which they can resort; 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 477 



and are, therefore, more frequently seen sauntering and con- 
versing in the streets, where a great proportion of the poorest 
sort, for want of htibitations, are obliged to spend the night 
as well as the day." 

The usual noise heard in the houses of London from the 
streets, is that of carriages ; but at Naples, where they talk 
with uncommon vivacity, and where whole streets are full 
of talkers, in continual employment, the noise of the car- 
riages is completely drowned in the aggregated clack of 
human voices. In the midst of all this idleness, fewer riots 
or outrages of any kind happen than might be expected where 
such multitudes of poor unemployed people meet together 
every day. This partly proceeds from the national character 
of the Italians, and partly from the common people being 
universally sober, and never inflamed with spirituous liquors. 
Iced water and lemonade are among the luxuries of the lowest 
people; the half-starved lazarone is often tempted to spend 
the small pittance destined for the maintenance of his family 
on this bewitching beverage, as the most dissolute in London 
spend their wages in gin; so that the same extravagance 
which cools the lower classes of one city, tends to inflame 
those of the other to acts of excess and brutality. 

There is no city, with the same number of inhabitants, in 
which so few contribute to the wealth of the community by 
productive labour, as Naples; but the number of priests, 
monks, fidlers, lawyers, nobility, footmen, and lazzaroni sur- 
passes all reasonable proportion. If these poor fellows are 
idle, it is not their own fault ; they are continually running 
about the streets, like the barbers and other tradesmen of 
China, offering their service and begging for employment. 

The Neapolitan nobility are extremely fond of splendour 
and show, which appear in the brilliancy of their equipages, 
the number of their attendants, the richness of their dress, 
and the grandeur of their titles. It is the mode in Naples to 
have two running footmen gaily dressed before the carriage, 
and three or four servants in rich liveries behind; these at- 
tendants are generally the handsomest men that can be pro- 



478 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



cured. The carriages and harness for the horses correspond 
with the servants in the same style of elegance. 

The richest and most commodious convents in Europe, for 
both sexes, are in this city ; the most beautiful and fertile hills 
of the environs are covered with them ; a small part of their 
revenue is spent in feeding the poor, the monks distributing 
bread and soup to a certain number every day before the 
doors of the convents. Some of the friars follow the practice 
of physic and surgery; and to each convent there is an apo- 
thecary's shop, from which medicines are delivered to the 
poor gratis. 

The lazzaroni form a considerable part of the inhabitants 
of Naples ; and have, on some occasions, had the government 
of the city, for a short time, in their own hands. The greater 
part of them have no dwelling-houses, but sleep every night 
under porticos, piazzas, or any kind of shelter they can find. 
Those of them who have wives and children live in the suburbs 
of the city, in huts, or caverns, or chambers dug out of the 
mountains. Some gain a livelihood by fishing, others by 
carrying burdens to and from the shipping : many walk about 
the streets ready to run errands, or to perform any labour in 
their power, for a very small recompense. 

This class of people are treated with the greatest tyranny 
by the nobility, and even by their livery servants ; instead 
of calling to them to make way when the noise in the streets 
prevents the people from hearing the approach of the car- 
riages, a stroke across the shoulders with the cane of the 
running footman is the usual warning they receive. Nothing 
animates the people to insurrection but some universal cause, 
as a scarcity of bread ; every other grievance they endiire as 
if it were their charter. "When we consider," says an in- 
genious traveller, " eighty thousand human creatures, without 
beds or habitations, wandering almost naked in search of 
food through the streets of a well-built city ; when we think 
of the opportunities they have of being together, of compar- 
ing their own destitute condition with the affluence of others, 
one cannot help being astonished at their patience." 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 479 



The lazzaroni were skilfully employed by the present 
wicked king of Naples during the revolution of 1848, which 
he suppressed by their aid. Had they sided with the liberals, 
as their permanent interests dictated, the victory would have 
been a glorious one. Who can justify the act of Ferdinand 
in stimulating the lazzaroni to the sack of the houses of the 
liberal party, and the massacre of many of its members ? 
The assassination of such a ruler would be a national bless- 
ing, and his execution, as a murderer, but a measure of com- 
mon justice. 

The environs of J^aples are rendered highly interesting by 
the numerous remains of antiquity, among which are those of 
the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. The other chief 
towns of this section are Portici, Torre del Annunziata, 
Castelamare, Caserta, Nocera, Gaeta, Capua, San Germano, 
Nola, Piedimonte, Arpino, Santa Maria Maggiore, Acerra, 
Aversa, Maddaloni, Salerno, Campagno, Sarno, Cava, Avel- 
lino, Ariano, and Solofra. Some of these have a population 
of over 16,000, and carry on a considerable trade. 

The section of the Abruzzo, comprising the most northerly 
portion of the continental part of the kingdom, contains Lan- 
ciano, Aquila, Teramo, Pescina, Civita Ducale, and Sulmona, 
all towns of considerable trade, and having over 10,000 in- 
habitants each. 

The section of Apulia comprises the eastern portion of 
the continental part of the kingdom, contains Lecce, which 
has 21,000 inhabitants, Otranto, Taranto, which has 19,000 
inhabitants, and extensive salt-works; Gallipoli, which has 
15,000 inhabitants; Monopoli, which has 16,000 inhabitants; 
Barletta, which has extensive salt-works, and 22,000 inhabit- 
ants; Foggia, a highly ornamental city, with 26,000 inhabit- 
ants: San Severe, with 18,000 inhabitants, and a number of 
small, but thriving and busy towns. 

The section of Calabria, comprising the western half of the 
Neapolitan continent, contains Reggio, situated in an exceed- 
ingly fertile country, and having an active trade, and 20,000 
inhabitants ; Catanzaro, with an important trade in silk and 



480 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



olive oil, and 13,000 inhabitants; Nicastro and Potenza, 
Trhich have each 10,000 inhabitants; Cosenza, which has 8000 
inhabitants, as well as a considerable number of smaller towns. 
In the greater portions of the country comprised in these sec- 
tions, agriculture is bountifully rewarded by a generous soil ; 
but the land-tillers enjoy a very small portion of the fruits of 
their toil. The contest between a rich country and a misera- 
ble government, is everywhere perceptible. 

The large and fertile island of Sicily has an area of 10,554 
square miles, and about 2,050,000 inhabitants. Immediately 
beyond the narrow strait which separates it from the conti- 
nent, the surface begins to rise into the lofty heights of Etna, 
a mountain higher than any of the Apennines, and which 
strikes admiration and terror by the streams of volcanic fire 
which issue from it. Its branches overspread nearly the whole 
island, but on the northern and southern coasts they descend 
into gentle and cultivated hills. From these elevated regions 
descend numerous and rapid streams, which profusely water 
every part of the territory. Sicily possesses thus all the beau- 
ties and benefits of a warm climate, without even the partial 
aridity to which it is exposed. Its soil yields abundantly all 
the products of the finest temperate and even tropical climates. 
Its most uncultivated spots are covered with groves of fruit 
trees, and decked with beautiful flowers, such as elsewhere are 
carefully reared in gardens. 

Sicily at present, notwithstanding its fertility and varied 
natural advantages, has sunk into a state of extreme poverty 
and degradation. The supineness and tyranny of the govern- 
ment, and the exorbitant privileges of the grandees, have re- 
duced the body of the people to a state of the utmost penury. 
The varied and often rugged surface of the country, inter- 
sected by numerous torrents, would require considerable efforts 
to form communication by roads ; but this has been entirely 
neglected, and a line of twenty miles into the interior from 
Palermo is the only route practicable for carriages. In Agri- 
gentum, once the mart of all the commodities of the Mediter- 
ranean, M. Kephalides could not procure a pair of gloves ; and 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 481 



in Modica, a town of 11,000 people, a bit of soap was not to 
be obtained. Sicilj, however, produces some wines that are 
esteemed; her raw silk is also fine, and with olive oil, fruits, 
and salt, affords some materials for exportation. In return, 
she receives manufactured goods in great variety, though small 
quantity, their consumption being much limited by the poverty 
which pervades the great body of the people. 

Sicily is divided into the following intendancies, named 
after their chief towns : Palermo, with a population of 180,000 ; 
Trapani, 26,000; Marsala, 24,000; Girgenti, 18,000; Cal- 
tanisetta, 17,000; Syracruse, 18,000; Catania, 60,000; 
Messina 85,000. 

Palermo, though it can boast neither monuments of an- 
tiquity nor classic modern edifices, such as adorn the cities 
of Italy, is yet a spacious and handsome city. It is traversed 
by broad streets crossing each other, and producing at their 
point of junction a striking effect. Many of the quarters, 
however, are ugly and dirty. The cathedral is a large ancient 
edifice, with some striking features ; but the different styles 
of architecture are injudiciously blended. The palace of the 
viceroy is a splendid building, but not in good taste ; its most 
interesting object is the ancient chapel of King Roger. Some 
of the country seats in the vicinity command delightful views. 
The favourite resort of the Palermitans is a public garden 
called the Flora, which is not well arranged, but is rich in 
flowers and fruit. 

Messina, though smaller, is almost equal in importance, 
since from it is carried on almost the whole commerce of 
Sicily. Its vines, silk, fruits, and other articles produced for 
exportation, are mostly shipped at Messina. It has also a 
considerable silk manufactory. The city is beautifully situa- 
ted on a bay, formed by the opposite coasts of Sicily and Ca- 
labria, and enclosed by lofty hills on each side. A century 
ago, Messina was much greater, and more flourishing; but it 
has passed since through calamities almost unparalleled. In 
1743, the plague swept off half its population ; and in 1783, 
the great earthquake, which was desolating Calabria, crossed 

31 



482 THE fEOPLE 0¥ EUROPE; 



tlie strait, and in a few minutes converted Messina into a heap 
of ruins. Most of the inhabitants effected their escape ; hut 
the finest streets >yere overthrown ; precious commodities, 
libraries, works of art, were destroyed in vast numbers. From 
this fatal blow Messina has only Imperfectly recovered. 

Southward from Messina, the coast begins to display the 
remains of great ancient cities, which were built chiefly on the 
eastern and southern coasts. Taormitta, the ancient Tau- 
romenum, now a small place, contains, among other ruins, a 
theatre, considered one of the most perfect monuments of an- 
tiquity, and in a most commanding site, between the moun- 
tains and the sea. Catania, at the foot of Etna, is the finest 
city in the island. It is filled with Grreek, Saracenic, and 
modern structures, all handsome. Yet it has passed through 
fearful vicissitudes. Overwhelmed by the volcano of 1669, 
almost destroyed by the earthquake of 1693, it has risen from 
these disasters with undiminished beauty. 

Proceeding southward along the coast of the Val de Norte, 
we reach Siragusa, (Syracuse.) This ancient capital, so cele- 
brated for power, learning, and splendour, presents now a 
striking example of the changeful character of human things. 
Of its vast ruins only some imperfect fragments can with 
difficulty be traced, scattered amid vineyards, orchards, and 
cornfields. The present town, which contains nothing re- 
markable, occupies only a very small portion of the ancient 
site. Near the south-eastern cape of Passaro are Nota and 
Modica, two large towns, one well built, the other very indif- 
ferently. 

On the southern coast, Girgenti, now a large, poor village, 
presents monuments worthy of the ancient Agrigentum,'"when 
it was the greatest city of Sicily, and fit to contend with Car- 
thage. The temple of Jupiter Olympus, an immense struc- 
ture, 368 feet long, by 188 broad, is almdst quite in ruins. 
It has been called the Temple of Giants, from huge forms of 
this description that are lying either entire or in fragments. 
The Temple of Concord, with its thirty-four columns, is con- 
sidered one of the most perfect specimens extant of the Doric 



484 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE 



order. Farther to the east at Selinunti, the ruins of Selinus 
present a scene still more striking and awful. Here may be 
distinctly traced three noble temples, of which the materials 
still remain, but only a few solitary columns are standing ; 
all the rest lie on the ground, in huge and shapeless blocks, 
forming the most stupendous mass of ruin to be found in 
Europe. 

Trapani, the ancient Drepanum, poetically distinguished as 
the place where Anchises died, and where ^neas celebrated 
his obsequies, is still a considerable town, near the western 
promontory of Sicily, the ancient Lilybseum. It is well for- 
tified, and has a good harbour, where there is considerable 
trade in the export of salt made in its vicinity,, and of barilla. 
It carries on briskly the fisheries of tunny and of coral, which 
last is obtained both from the coast of the island and that of 
Africa. Not far from Trapani is Segeste, a simple, grand, 
and almost entire edifice, standing on a solitary hill. Mar- 
sala, almost on the very site of Lilybseum, is a considerable 
town, exporting wine that is much esteemed. Near it the 
quarries of Mazzara appear to have furnished the stone of 
which the edifices in this part of Sicily have been constructed. 

The ascent of Etna is a general object with Sicilian travel- 
lers. In proceeding from Catania, they pass through three 
successive zones : first, that of rich cultivated fields, then that 
of plants and aromatic shrubs, and lastly, the region of scoriae, 
ashes, and perpetual snow. On reaching the summit, they 
view the crater filled with vast volumes of smoke, and obtain 
a fine panoramic view over all Sicily and the adjoining shores 
of Italy. 

The Lipari Islands, twelve in number, and situated from 
twelve to thirty-five miles northward from the Sicilian coast, 
are entirely volcanic, and appear to have been thrown up from 
the sea by the action of fire. Lipari itself contains a hill of 
white pumice, which forms an article of trade, and its crater 
displays various specimens of beautifully crystallized sulphur. 
Stromboli has a volcano, remarkable for being in perpetual 
activity. Every day, at short intervals, the eruptions issue 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 485 



forth like great discliarges of artillery, and the sides of the 
mountain are covered with the red-hot stones that are ejected, 
and rush down into the sea. The inhabitants of these islands 
are a bold, active, and industrious race. The activity of sub- 
marine fires has been manifested on another side of Sicily, by 
the rise of Graham's Island ; only, indeed, a volcanic rock, 
which again sunk under water. 

The Sicilians displayed admirable spirit and heroism in 
1848. So much exertion and so many sacrifices were not 
anticipated by those whowere acquainted with the degrading 
system of government under which they long had groaned. 
The present state of affairs is not much better than things 
were before the revolution. There is no true liberty of speech 
or action in Sicily. 

The government of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies is ab- 
solute, as it was before the struggle of the liberals in 1848. 
Even the power of a numerous nobility cannot check the will 
of the monarch — and all know the character of the present 
sovereign's will. The. army, on the peace footing, numbers 
60,000 men, besides several regiments of Swiss. The navy 
consists of one ship-of-the-line, three frigates, four sloops-of- 
war, and four smaller vessels.* 

The great body of the inhabitants of the kingdom are 
catholics. In 1842, the number of priests, monks, and nuns 
reached 65,000 persons, and since then, the number has in- 
creased. There are about eight thousand Greek Christians 
■ and a few Jews. With regard to the means of education, we 
may note that there are four universities, five lyceums, at 
least one gymnasium in each province, seven hundred and 
eighty Latin schools, and two thousand eight hundred com- 
mon schools. Still the mass of the people are ignorant. 

* Ungewitter. 



NEW YORK, N. Y, 
LIBRARY 



486 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



^usscang. 

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany comprises the north-western 
part of middle Italy, having an area of 8,844 square miles, 
and 1,750,000 inhabitants. 

Tuscany ranks next to the Roman states as the theatre of 
great historical events, and has surpassed Rome itself as the 
seat of modern learning. Its first glories even preceded those 
of the metropolis. The Etruscans, the earliest masters of 
Italy, were found by the Romans divided into ten powerful, 
brave, and, in some respects, civilized commonwealths. They 
were vanquished, however, and so completely destroyed, that 
the antiquary seeks in vain to fix the site of Veii, Fidense, and 
of the other large and strong cities, on which flocks have now 
fed for more than two thousand years. Under Rome, Etruria, 
though held in some veneration as a seat of early religion and 
learning, never reached any political importance. Amid the 
tumult of the Middle Ages, however, there arose in it a cluster 
of proud republics. Florence, Pisa, Sienna, Pistoia, ac- 
quired distinction for their wealth, their valour, their lofty 
spirit of independence, and their zealous cultivation of the 
arts and sciences. Under the influence of freedom, they per- 
formed achievements and erected monuments on a scale much 
beyond their narrow territory and limited population. By a 
series of revolutions, internal and external, these states have 
b^een stripped of all their greatness and glory, and united, 
notwithstanding their deadly hatred of each other, under the 
sway of a prince of the house of Austria. Little remains of 
the commerce and industry by which Florence was formerly 
so distinguished ; but the vale of the Arno, the plain of Pisa, 
and the environs of Sienna, are still as highly cultivated and 
productive as any part of Europe. The arts of painting and 
architecture are fallen from their ancient eminence, but the 
monuments of them remain, and are rendered more interest- 
ing by the tints which time has thrown over them. The 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 487 



principal towns are Florence, 105,000 inhabitants ; Leghorn, 
88,000; Pisa, 22,000; Sienna, 24,000 ; Prato, 11,000; Pis- 
toia, 12,000 ; Arezzo, 7000 ; Lucca, 25,000. 

Florence, which attained so great a name under the humane 
and enlightened sway of the Medici, is still a delightful city. 
Its situation is peculiarly happy, in the vale of the Arno, 
which forms one continued interchange of garden and grove, 
enclosed by hills and distant mountains. Its public buildings 
are fine, though all modern. Being surpassed by those of 
Rome, they no longer excite any peculiar interest. The 
great cathedral, however, while St. Peters's was not yet 
constructed, ranked as the most majestic edifice in Italy; 
and the form of its dome is supposed to have at least sug- 
gested that of the other more majestic one. The palaces, 
also, with the same character, have a similar uniformity ; and 
many of them, erected during the ages of dire and deadly 
feud, exhibit, in their approaches at least, an attention to 
strength rather than to beauty. The Gallery is the chief 
pride of Florence, both as to its structure and contents. It 
has twenty apartments branching ofl" from it, in each of which 
the productions of a particular school or class of art are ex- 
hibited. In ancient sculpture this collection has perhaps no 
rival, since it contains the Venus brought from the Medici 
palace, the group of Niobe, the Faun, and many other mas- 
terpieces. The paintings are so arranged as to form a com- 
plete history of Italian art, from the era in which it was a 
mere object of curiosity to that when it was displayed in its 
full splendour. It comprises also some of the greatest mas- 
terpieces of Raphael, Titian, Andre del Sarto ; and is adorned 
with some of those belonging to the principal schools beyond 
the Alps. The French, having selected and carried ofi* sixty- 
three, left it completely shorn of its ornaments ; but those 
have now all resumed their places. There are few paintings, 
but pretty numerous sculptures by Michael Angelo, especially 
those which adorn the tomb of the Medici. 

The environs of Florence are nearly as romantic as those 
of Rome, and not separated by any intervening desert, but 



488 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



rising in its close vicinity. Vallombrosa, a grand and solemn 
scene, "where "Etrurian shades high over-arched embower," 
has been rendered classical by the immortal verse of Milton, 
who is supposed to have drawn from it his picture of Para- 
dise, when he describes it — 

" shade above shade, 



A woody theatre of stateliest view." 

Fiesole, on an eminence, commands a^n enchanting view of 
Florence and the vale of Arno. Once the rival of that city, 
it is now a lonely and delightful village, and was the favourite 
spot to which the greatest men of Florence retired for the 
enjoyment of rural contemplation. Milton refers to the top 
of Fiesole as a happy point for observing the phenomena of 
the heavenly bodies. 

Pisa, situated in a fertile and beautiful plain, was long one 
of the proudest and most prosperous of the commercial re- 
publics of Italy. Subjected by Florence, after a long con- 
test, and now involved in the same common slavery, her 
wealth has disappeared, and her population has been reduced 
from 100,000 to 22,000. A solemn character of fallen gran- 
deur still invests her. Her four edifices, the cathedral, the 
baptistery, the leaning tower, and the Campo Santo, form 
one of the grandest existing ranges of architecture, all built 
of the finest marble. The style is not altogether pure, being 
usually termed the Moresco Gothic ; but Mr. Forsyth is 
rather of opinion that it is a mere corruption of the Greek 
model, retaining, however, much beauty. The cathedral is 
the most spacious and splendid of these edifices ; but the 
campanile, or belfry, is the most remarkable. It is a ^ower 
of six. successive stories of arches, supported by pillars. But 
its grand peculiarity is, that it has actually deviated fourteen 
feet from the perpendicular, yet has thus stood for three 
hundred years, without the slightest tendency toward a fall. 
The deviation appears to have been in consequence of the 
softness of the ground, but it is a striking proof of skilful 
and solid construction, that this lofty edifice has not only re- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 489 



mained firm for so long a period, but does not even now give 
the least menace of ruin. 

Sienna, after acquiring a great name among the Italian re- 
publics, sustained a fate similar to that of Pisa. It is situ- 
ated in a hillj and even mountainous country ; which, how- 
ever, yields abundantly the olive, the vine, and in many 
places grain. The Monte Polciano and Chianti grapes give 
a wine superior to what is usually found in Italy. The 
southern district, however, consists of maremma, connected 
with the great Roman one. The nobles reside chifly in the 
city, in the usual effeminate manner, and still retaining a rem- 
nant of those deadly feuds by which their order was formerly 
rent. It has some remains of the once extensive silk manu- 
factory. Sienna had a respectable secondary school of paint- 
ing, of which Vanni and Peruzzi were the heads ; but its 
most remarkable monument is the pavement of its cathedral, 
the work of Micarino and other artists, who, by the mere 
combination of white and gray marble, hatched with mastic, 
produced the effect of the finest mosaic. 

Leghorn is almost the only modern and prosperous town 
in the compass of the Tuscan territory. When ceded by 
Genoa in 1421, it was only a petty village ; but the able ar- 
rangements of the Medici raised it to the rank it has since 
held as the first commercial city of Italy, and the great cen- 
tre of Mediterranean commerce. It is airy and well built, 
with broad streets, fourteen churches, one Armenian, and two 
Greek chapels, and even a magnificent synagogue ; the ne- 
cessary toleration of commerce overcoming even Italian 
bigotry. There are, however, no edifices which excite any 
recollections of antiquity, or can compare with those which 
adorn the other cities of Italy. 

In the rest of Tuscany we may remark Cortona, the an- 
cient capital of Etruria, supposed to be the most ancient city 
of Italy. The antique walll still remain as the substruction 
of the modern ones ; and their vast uncemented blocks, which 
have subsisted for ages, mark the solidity of Etruscan ma- 
sonry. Cortona is now reduced to five thousand inhabitants ; 



•# 



490 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE! 



but it is distinguished by the Tuscan Society, wbieb has done 
much to illustrate the antiquities of Etruria. Perugia, also 
an ancient Etrurian state, is still a clean pretty town, de- 
lightfully situated on the lake of that name. Arezzo is a 
name rendered classic by the birth of Petrarch, of Redi, and 
of Pignotti. Bibbiena is a thriving little town, in the centre 
of the Casertine, inhabited by an industrious peasantry, who 
are reckoned to have the best hogs and the best chestnuts of 
all Italy. 

Since 1847, the small duchy of Lucca has formed part of 
Tuscany. Though for the most part composed of mountain 
defiles, this territory is more densely populated than any 
other portion of Italy. The nobles of Lucca have always 
been distinguished for a superior education and deportment, 
and the people for an industry and enterprise unusual among 
Italians. In consequence of these things, the country is 
happy and prosperous. 

Before the revolutions of 1848, the Tuscan government 
was absolute. It was then made constitutional, but the diike 
has since restored the old state of afiairs. The Roman 
Catholic religious system prevails among the people, there 
being upward of two hundred monasteries and convents, and 
about 5,500 monks and nuns. There are three universities 
in Tuscany, at Pisa, Sienna, and Florence. Besides these, 
there are four colleges, sixteen seminaries, and sixteen gym- 
nasiums, and numerous common schools. The Tuscan army, 
on the peace footing, numbers six thousand men. The state 
has a few small vessels of war. 



The Sardinian States are of very dissimilar character, but 
united by political circumstances under one government. 
The dukes of Savoy, founders of the Sardinian family, made 
a conspicuous figure in European history, especially during 
the war of the Spanish succession. In return for their ser- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 491 



vices to the cause of the allies, they were recompensed with 
the island of Sicily. That island was afterward, in conse- 
quence, it should seem, of a very bad bargain, exchanged for 
Sardinia, from which the house assumed the royal title. 
Under the domination of Napoleon, the king was expelled 
from all his Italian territories, and owed to British protection 
alone the preservation of Sardinia. After the triumph of 
the allies, he was not only replaced in all his former posses- 
sions in Italy, but the state of Genoa, instead of being re- 
stored to its lost independence, was subjected to his sway. 
The kingdom of Sardinia consists, therefore, of four distinct 
parts, — Piedmont, Genoa, Savoy, Sardinia. 

The total area of the kingdom is 29,245 square miles, and 
the population amounts to 5,292,000 inhabitants. 

Piedmont, or "the foot of the mountains," is the most 
valuable possession of this crown. It forms a continuation 
of the plain of Lombardy, somewhat narrowed, and more 
closely bounded by the mightiest ranges of the Alps and 
Apennines; the former on the north and west, the latter 
on the south. The Po, running through its centre, divides it 
into two nearly eqiial parts, and receives here all its early 
tributaries ; which, being so near their mountain sources, are 
liable to sudden and terrible inundations, distressing to the 
agriculturist and dangerous to the traveller. The chief pro- 
duce is silk, which is reckoned superior to any other in Italy, 
and consequently in Europe; and in Turin and some other 
cities remains exist of very extensive silk manufactures ; but_ 
the greater part of the produce is exported raw. The go- 
vernment is constitutional, in many respects a model for 
Italians. 

Turin maintains its place among the beautiful cities of 
Italy. Its situation is as fine as possible, amid the rich val- 
ley of the Po, surrounded by an amphitheatre of vine-covered 
hills ; while lofty mountains, with their summits clad in per- 
petual snow, tower in the distance. The streets are long and 
regular, ornamented with lines of porticos, and opening at 
their termination to fine views over the surrounding country : 



492 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE : 



it is a little city of palaces. The churches and mansions are 
spacious, and of rich materials ; but few display that classic 
taste in which real beauty consists, and which ennobles the 
Roman and Venetian structures : the vases of pure gold, the 
silver images, and the crosses of ruby, were all converted by 
French avidity into current coin. The most striking edifice 
is the church of the Superga, built on the steepest hill which 
crowns the city. The ancient palace of the dukes of Savoy 
is a huge brick edifice, resembling a fortress rather than a 
palace. Turin has a considerable number of paintings, not 
marking any particular school, as none ever arose in this part 
of Italy, but chiefly composed of Flemish and other ultra- 
montane productions. The university is very extensive, and 
contains important collections, among which those of natural 
history, natural philosophy, medals, and antiques, are par- 
ticularly noticed. The library is also rich in curious works 
and valuable manuscripts. The citadel of Turin forms a 
very strong fortress. The population of Turin amounts to 
one hundred and thirty-five thousand inhabitants. 

The other cities of Piedmont are chiefly remarkable for 
their strength, having been erected when this country was a 
seat of almost perpetual war. The strongest is Alessandria, 
built in the twelfth century, at the junction of the Bormida 
and the Tanaro. It is large and very strong ; besides which, 
the town is the seat of extensive fairs. Near it is the cele- 
brated field of Marengo. The once strong fortifications of 
Tortona have been demolished. Vercelli, the former capital 
of this part of Italy, and distinguished by some fine struc- 
tures, is now thinly inhabited and dreary. Novara is a 
gloomy antique frontier town toward Lombardyr Coni, 
among the Alps, is considered the bulwark of the kingdom 
on the side of France. Susa, once the capital of Piedmont 
under its marquises, is a retired pleasant little town, on the 
immediate frontier of France. Nice is the capital of a little 
country scarcely Italian, beyond the Alps. Though it cannot 
be said to be well built, it is agreeable ; and, as the environs 
are beautiful, and the air mild, it is a frequent resort of 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 493 



English invalids. The inhabitants number thirty-seven 
thousand. 

The territory of Genoa is situated on the sloping steeps 
of the Apennine, where it separates from the Maritime Alps, 
and stretches eastward ; not separated from the sea by a 
broad plain, as in the rest of its line, but presenting to it 
narrow valleys and mountain declivities facing the south. 
These steep barriers are passable only at a few points; and 
the Bochetta, a very steep and lofty defile, forms the only 
practicable approach to Genoa from the interior. This dis- 
trict, the country of the ancient Ligurians, is not favourable 
for the operations of the plough ; but olives in abundance, 
silk, and tolerable wine, are advantageously produced from it. 

Genoa, surnamed the Superb, the great naval republic 
which, in the annals of Italian wealth, commerce, and splen- 
dour, ranked only and scarcely second to Venice, presents 
but a shadow of her former greatness. Her navigators were 
of a peculiarly bold and adventurous character ; and she was 
the native city of Christopher Columbus. Her settlements 
in the remote peninsula of the Crimea enabled her to bring 
into Europe, by a peculiar and circuitous route, the com- 
modities of India. Depressed by a once haughty and now 
indolent aristocracy, and eclipsed by the rivalry of the 
northern nations, Genoa had lost all her principles of pros- 
perity, before her independence was crushed by the revolu- 
tionary arms of France. Yet it seems impossible to applaud 
the conduct of the Allies, in annexing her to Sardinia, though 
with permission to preserve her senate and outward forms of 
administration. The wealth of the great days of Genoa was, 
as usual, embodied in palaces. These are arranged in one 
continuous line of street, extending, under three different 
names, through the city, all the rest of which is a mere chaos 
of dark and dirty lanes. These palaces are boasted as being, 
for richness of materials and profuse ornament, the most 
splendid in Italy, and many of them are every way fit to 
be the residence of the greatest monarchs. They have one 
ornament peculiar to themselves, which consists in fresco 



494 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE.' 



paintings on the exterior of the walls, many by masters of 
some eminence ; and, in this fine climate, these remain unim- 
paired for centm-ies. The design, however, both here and in 
the churches, wants that elegance and purity of taste by 
which the structures of Venice have been rendered so ad- 
mirable. Ornament and glare seem to have been the ruling 
passion of the Genoese. Her nobles, though all sunk, and 
many reduced to poverty, would spend their last farthing in 
supporting the pomp of their ancient mansions. Hence 
these have now a silent and desolate aspect, and have been 
compared to the ruined monuments of an excavated city. 
They are filled with pictures, gilding, arabesque, frescos, 
dust, moths, and dirt; exhibiting a combination of ancient 
splendour and present decay. Genoa has not altogether the 
magical efi"ect produced by the long lines of canal which in- 
tersect Venice ; but her position, occupying one side of the 
spacious amphitheatre which forms the harbour, and spread- 
ing her streets and churches, and then her suburbs and villas, 
over a vast semicircular tract of crags, rocks, and declivi- 
ties, gives her, toward the sea, a highly magnificent and 
imposing aspect. The city has also the disadvantage of 
being so closely bounded by rocks, that no level spot is left 
on which a carriage can drive ; and the neighbouring villas 
can be reached only in chairs carried by porters, who are 
endowed with singular agility and alertness. Genoa, though 
fallen from her ancient greatness, is still considerable, and 
has of late even somewhat increased. She manufactures 
rich velvets, damasks, and satins, to the value of two million 
of dollars ; and she carries on the trade of the Sardinia.n 
dominions in Italy, and partly that of Switzerland. She 
exports her OM'n manufactures, olive oil in abundance, rice, 
cheese, thrown silk, and Swiss printed cojttons. The produc- 
tions of the Levant and of Southern Italy are found in her 
warehouses. She imports salt fish, British cottons and wool- 
lens, grain, wool, cotton, and colonial produce. Among the . 
chief articles imported in 1832, were salt fish, hides, cochi- 
neal, cotton, sugar, pigs of lead. The population now 



496 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



number 120,000 persons. Savana, Chiavara, and Voltri, 
which carry on considerable trade, are the other chief towns 
in the duchy. 

Savoy is a province of considerable extent, which in its 
surface and aspect is much more analogous to Switzerland 
than to Italy: it consists of rugged rocks, and mountains 
rising into the regions of perpetual snow ; interspersed, how- 
ever, with a number of fertile and agreeable valleys. Some 
of the principal passes over the Alps into Italy are through 
Savoy, which till lately was the only one from France or 
Switzerland that was passable for carriages. The Little St. 
Bernard, by which Hannibal is now supposed to have passed, 
is situated in Savoy. It was much improved by Napoleon. 
Many of these rocks, composed of loose limestone strata, are 
perpetually crumbling. In 1248, a great part of Mont 
Grenier, near Chamberry, fell, burying a village and church, 
and overspreading the surface of five parishes, which are still 
covered with the fragments, piled in small conical hillocks. 
Mont Blanc, the loftiest mountain in Europe, is within the 
limits of Savoy. The Savoyards are brave, industrious, 
poor, more social than the Swiss, though less noted for clean- 
liness. The towns in this elevated district are agreeable and 
rural, situated in its most fertile and open plains, but do not 
attain to much magnitude or importance. Chamberry, on 
the high road into Italy, is an old town, somewhat gloomy, 
but not ugly, and in the midst of a variegated and beautiful 
country. Population fifteen thousand. Moutiers, capital of 
the high district of Tarentaise, and Annecy, at the extremity 
of a picturesque lake of the same name, are pleasantly situ- 
ated, though not well-built places. 

The island of Sardinia is one of the least valuable por- 
tions of the kingdom, though possessed of advantages which 
should render it very much the reverse : few regions exceed 
it in natural fertility ; the surface is finely variegated with 
gentle hills, which only along the western coast assume the 
character of mountains. Grain, notwithstanding the most 
wretched cultivation, affords a surplus for export. The wines 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 497 



are reckoned equal to those of Spain, and the olives to those 
of Genoa and Provence. The salt-works and the tunny fish- 
ery are very important objects ; and the situation of Sardinia, 
in the heart of the Mediterranean, and with a number of 
fine harbours, might afibrd the opportunity of an extensive 
commerce. Yet the population is in the most uncultivated 
and savage state, perhaps, of any in Europe. The peasantry 
in the interior are clothed, in a great measure, in shaggy 
goat or sheepskins ; they subsist chiefly by the produce of 
their flocks, and by hunting ; and go constantly armed, for 
their own defence, against the numerous and desperate ban- 
ditti, by whom the mountains are infested. The Sardinian 
government appears really to have made very extraordinary 
exertions for this rude appanage. The want of roads, and 
the extensive commons, were considered the two chief causes 
which perpetuated its evils. A plan was therefore traced to 
form one great road across the kingdom from north to south, 
between the two leading points of Cagliari and Sassari, from 
which eight cross roads might branch ofi" so as to embrace the 
most important points in the east and west. The principal 
road was begun in November, 1822. Laws were also 
passed to authorize and encourage the division of commons. 
The good efiects of these measures, are apparent. At pre- 
sent, Sardinia has the tunny fishery, the produce of which 
varies much with the state of the wind, and other circum- 
stances. Sea salt, evaporated by the heat of the sun in the 
shallow bays near Cagliari, Palmas, and Oristano, is em- 
ployed in salting both meat and fish, and as an object of di- 
rect exportation. Grain, produced to the amount of nearly 
three millions of bushels, was formerly the principal object of 
export ; but its value has been greatly reduced by the com- 
petition of Odessa. The horses are of a good breed : ac- 
cording to M. Cibraria, thirty-two thousand only are tame, 
and twenty thousand wild. He gives a still more striking 
picture of the rude state of the country when he adds, that 
of the cattle, one hundred and twenty thousand are tame^ 
and three hundred and fifty thousand wild; and that, of 

32 



498 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



eight hundred and forty thousand sheep, the whole belong to 
the latter class. There is, however, a considerable export of 
salted meat and cheese. About a third of the surface con- 
sists of forest, a considerable portion of which is oak, and 
well adapted for shipbuilding. Cagliari and Sassari are both 
considerable cities ; the former having a considerable trade, 
and thirty thousand population, both being crowded, ill built, 
and ill paved ; the latter smaller, but more elegant : both 
have universities, with tolerable libraries. Oristano has a 
fine harbour, and flourishes by the tunny fishery, and by the 
culture of wine in its neighbourhood. 

With the exception of about twenty-two thousand Wal- 
denses, and eight thousand Jews, all the inhabitants of the 
Kingdom of Sardinia are catholics, under the church au- 
thority of seven archbishops and thirty-four bishops. There 
are three hundred and thirty-four monasteries and ninety-five 
nunneries in the kingdom. There are four universities, 
eighty-five colleges, thirty-nine seminaries, and a number of 
common schools. But general education is in a very back- 
ward state. The mass of the people lack intelligence, but 
they, especially the Piedmontese, are brave, hardy, industri- 
ous, and anxious to enjoy the blessings of free institutions. 
In no part of Italy can be found a better appreciation of the 
rights of the people, and the duties of the government. Still 
there is much to reform in Sardinia — much that is common 
to all Italy. 



Parma is situated between the continental part of Sardinia 
and the Duchy of Modena, and on the, north is separated 
from Lombardy by the Po, having an area of two thousand 
two hundred and seventy-nine square miles, and 479,000 in- 
habitants.* The country is level, the soil fertile, and agri- 
culture highly improved. Commerce and manufactures are 

* Ungewitter. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 499 



neglected. The government is absolute, the duke belonging 
to the house of Austria. The body of the people belong to 
the Catholic church. There are twenty-one convents in the 
duchy and the schools are under the care of the monks and 
nuns. The government has instituted an order of nobility, 
and the military numbers eight hundred men. The duchy is 
historically divided into Parma, Piacenza, and Gnastalla. 
Parma, the capital, is a very handsome city, and contains 
41,000 inhabitants, and numerous splendid edifices. Pia- 
cenza contains 30,000 inhabitants, and is finely situated on 
the Po. Austria has a garrison in the citadel of this town. 
Gnastalla is also situated on the Po, and contains about six 
thousand inhabitants. 



MoDENA is a fine, but small domain, situated at the foot 
of the Apennines, between Parma and the popedom, and con- 
tains an area of two thousand one hundred and nine square 
miles, 490,000 inhabitants. The soil is fertile and well cul- 
tivated. Carrara marble is the most noted of its natural 
features. Modena is held as a fief of Austria, and its duke be- 
longs to the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine. Education is well 
administered. The religion of the people is catholic, and 
there are fourteen monasteries and nine nunneries in the duchy. 
Modena is the chief city. It is extremely beautiful, though 
without any object particularly striking, except the high 
steeple of the cathedral. The inhabitants number 28,000. 
The other important towns in the duchy are Carrara, with 
eight thousand five hundred inhabitants, its famous marble 
and academy of sculptors ; Mirandola, with five thousand five 
hundred inhabitants, Corregio, Novellara, and Reggio — which 
has nineteen thousand inhabitants, and numerous convents. 



500 THE PEOPLE OP EUEOPE : 



Switzerland forms a mountainous territory in the centre 
of Europe, occupying the west of the great range of the Alps, 
■which divides France and Germany from Italy. It is re- 
markable for the grandeur of its natural features and scenery, 
and for the freedom of its political institutions. 

Switzerland is bounded by the great kingdoms of France, 
Germany, and Italy, whose frontiers enclose it on all sides ; 
France on the east ; Germany, and more particularly Swabia 
and the Tyrol, on the south and west ; the Italian states, 
Milan, Piedmont, and Savoy, on the south. In general, 
Switzerland terminates where its mighty mountain heights 
slope down to the vast plains which extend over the surround- 
ing regions ; but on the side of the Tyrol on the west, and of 
Savoy on the south-west, the line is drawn across the crest 
of the Alps themselves, which stretch away with almost un- 
diminished grandeur toward opposite seas. Its position is 
nearly between 46° and 48° north latitude; and 6° and 11° 
east longitude. It may be about two hundred miles in length, 
and one hundred and forty in breadth, and comprises an area 
of nineteen thousand square miles. 

The surface of Switzerland, bounded and traversed as it is 
by the highest ranges in Europe, consists almost wholly of 
mountains and lakes. The Alpine chains, however, do not 
swell, like those of America and Asia, into mighty and con- 
tinuous table-lands ; they are separated by deep valleys or 
, narrow plains, which form the basin of large rivers, or the 
bed of extensive lakes ; hence arises a singular variety of 
climate and aspect ; for while the valleys beneath are scorched 
by the intensest rays of the sun, perpetual winter reigns in the 
heights above, and the vegetation of the arctic circle passes 
into the snows of the polar world. 

The great rivers which water the surrounding regions either 
take their rise in Switzerland, or are swelled by tributaries 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 501 



from that country. The Rhine and the Rhone have both a 
long course, and have risen to streams of the first magnitude 
before thej pass its frontier. These, with the Aar, the Reuss, 
and the Tesino, rise from the vicinity of each other, wh^re 
the two great chains nearly unite, and where the Shreckhorn, 
the Finster-Aar-horn, and St. Gothard tower above the wild 
valleys of Urseren and the Upper Valais. 

Lakes form a conspicuous feature in the physical structure 
and scenery of Switzerland. Its rivers, after rolling for a 
considerable space through mighty mountain valleys, accumu- 
late a mass of waters which, when they reach the plains, no 
longer find a channel capable of containing them, but spread 
into wide watery expanses. The lakes of Switzerland are 
large, though none of them have that vast extent which could 
entitle them to be classed as inland seas. The smiling val- 
leys and cultivated hills which form their immediate border, 
with the mighty mountains which tower behind in successive 
ranges, till they terminate in icy pinnacles rising above the 
clouds, produce a union of the sublime and beautiful which 
no other part of Europe, or perhaps of the world, can rival. 

The Lake of Geneva, or Leman Lake, is the most exten- 
sive, being about fifty miles in length, and twelve in its 
greatest breadth. The varied beauties of its northern bank, 
the opposite heights of Meillerie, and Mont Blanc rising be- 
hind in the distance, render it perhaps the most beautiful 
lake in the world. The Lake of Lucerne, or of the Four 
Forest Cantons, has, from its winding form, and the great 
variety of its scenery, sometimes been considered as superior. 
The Lake of Zurich does not ofier the same sublime beauties ; 
but the gentle elevations by which it is diversified form many 
scenes of extreme beauty. That of Constance has none of 
the mountain grandeur of interior Switzerland, but its ex- 
tended banks present many pleasing, cultivated and pastoral 
scenes. The southern lakes, Maggiore, Como, Lugano, which 
half belong to Italy, exhibit many magical scenes, combining 
the gay splendour of the Italian plain with the grandeur of 
its mountain boundary ; yet they do not possess that deep 



502 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



stillness and solemnity which gives a peculiar charm to the 
lakes that are entirely enclosed within the Alpine barrier. 

On the downfall of Napoleon's power, the free constitution 
which formed the boast of the cantons, was, in Berne, Fri- 
burg, and some others, modified by a large and somewhat se- 
vere mixture of aristocracy. Admission to public offices was 
limited to a few privileged families ; and the sway over the Pays 
de Vaud, the Grisons, and other subject states, was somewhat 
rigorous. This distinction of sovereign and subject territo- 
ries has now been happily obliterated, and even the interior 
predominance of aristocratic principles is much broken up ; 
but each of the twenty-two states has a particular constitution 
of its own, though all are united by the common tie of the 
federal government. 

The Helvetic diet consists of two deputies from each can- 
ton, which meet once a year. Extraordinary meetings may 
also be called, on the requisition of any five cantons. This 
assembly takes cognisance of every thing that concerns the 
foreign relations and the general defence of the country. 
The diet has been much occupied by the unwelcome remon- 
strances made by the great sovereigns respecting the liberties 
taken by the press in regard to the conduct of foreign powers, 
and the refuge allowed to individuals who have become ob- 
noxious through their support of liberal opinions. On these 
points, the diet, conscious of their own inferior power, have 
been generally obliged to yield. When the diet is not in 
session, the vorort, or directory, vested in the cantons of 
Berne, Zurich, and Lucerne, alternately for two years, manage 
the affairs of the confederacy. 

The religion of Switzerland is divided between the protes- 
tant and the catholic. Schweitz, Uri, TJnterwalden, Lucerne, 
Zug, Friburg, Soleure, Valais, and Tesino are catholic: St. 
Gall, Appenzell, Aargau, and Grisons are mixed. The others 
may be ranked as protestant ; though even in Geneva there 
are 15,000 catholics. The protestant churches were at first 
strictly Calvinistic, both as to doctrine and discipline; but 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 



503 




Swiss Peasants. 



the Genevan church has in a great measure renounced the 
tenets of this school of theology, and those who continue to 
profess them are even exposed to some degree of persecution. 
The presbyterian form of church government, however, still 
prevails throughout protestant Switzerland. The catholic 
religion exhibits this peculiar feature, that, instead of being, 
as usual, combined with high monarchical principles, it is es- 
tablished among the most purely democratic of the Swiss 
republics. The protestant cantons, however, are observed to 
fee decidedly the most flourishing and industrious. 

Learning, though not very generally difiused throughout 
Switzerland, has been cultivated with great ardour at Geneva 
and Zurich, both of which have a character more decidedly 
intellectual than most European cities. The names of Haller, 



504 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



Lavater, Rousseau, Gessner, Zimmermann, and Sismondi throw 
lustre on Swiss literature. The printing and bookselling 
trade which Geneva enjoyed while the French press laboured 
under severe restrictions, has been diminished. Elementary 
knowledge is general throughout the protestant population; 
and the systems of education established by Pestalozzi at 
Yverdun, and Fellenberg at Hofwyl, have drawn general at- 
tention. The habits and general forms of life are substan- 
tially German, modified in the western cantons, and especially 
in Geneva, by a somewhat intimate communication with 
France. 

As to national character, the Swiss enjoy the reputation 
of being a plain, honest, brave and simple people, among 
whom linger the last remnants of antique and primitive man- 
ners. Their fond attachment to their native country is con- 
spicuous, even amid the necessity which compels them to 
abandon it, and to enter the service of the neighbouring 
powers. It is observed that no sooner is the Ranz des Vaches, 
a simple mountain air, played in their hearing, than the 
hardy soldiers melt into tears. An ardent love of liberty, 
ever since the grand epoch of their liberation, has distin- 
guished the Swiss people. Now, indeed, the influx of 
strangers, and the general mixture of nations, is said to have 
broken down much of what was antique and peculiar in Swiss 
manners; and travellers have complained that every mode 
of turning to account their temporary passage is as well un- 
derstood as in the most frequented routes of France and 
Italy. The manufacturing districts also have undergone a 
great change ; but in the higher pastoral valleys there may 
still be traced much «f the original Swiss simplicity. - 

To an area of 15,315 square miles, Switzerland has a popu- 
lation of about 2,400,000 inhabitants. 

For persons who have never seen these states, it is difficult 
to form any accurate idea of the general equality and indis- 
tinction that prevails among the' inhabitants. The houses 
are built of wood, large, solid, and compact, with great pent- 
house roofs that hang very low, and extend beyond the area 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 505 



of the foundation. This peculiar structure is to keep off the 
snow; and from its singularity, accords with the beautiful 
wildness of the country. The houses of the richer inhabi- 
tants in the principal burghs are of the same materials; the 
only difference consists in their being larger. 

The houses of Basle are adorned on the outside with figures, 
of the sun, a bear, a hog, &c., which are generally accom- 
panied with mottos ; the following is an instance : — 

"En Dieu je met tout mon espoir, 
Et je demcure au cochon noir." 

"All my hope is in God: and my house is known by the sign of the 
black pig." 

Switzerland being a mountainous country, the frosts are 
long and severe in winter ; and the hills are sometimes covered 
with snow all the year long. In summer the inequality of 
the soil renders the same province very unequal in its seasons : 
on one side of these mountains the inhabitants are often reap- 
ing, while they are sowing on the other. The valleys, are, 
however, warm, fruitful, and well cultivated; and nothing 
can be more delightful than the summer months in this charm- 
ing country. It is subject to rains and tempests, on which 
account public granaries are everywhere erected, to supply 
the failure of their crops. The feet of the mountains, and 
sometimes the very summits, are covered with vineyards, corn- 
fields, meadows, and pasture-grounds. In some parts there 
is a regular gradation from extreme wildness to high culti- 
vation ; in others, the transitions are very abrupt and very 
striking. 

The fertility of the Grison country is such, that a field, 
ploughed by a single ox, produces first a crop of corn, then 
another of Indian wheat, afterward of radishes, and lastly, 
of fruits and vintage. 

In most parts of Switzerland sumptuary laws are in force, 
as well to preserve the greatest plainness and simplicity of 
manners, as to banish every thing that has the appearance of 
superfluity and excess. No dancing is allowed, except on 



506 



THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 




Grisons. 



particular occasions : silk, lace, and several other articles of 
luxury, are totally prohibited in some of the cantons ; and 
even the head-dress of the ladies are subject to regulations. 
The citizens at the head of their government, in all .public 
assemblies, appear in black cloaks and bands; while the 
peasants are usually clothed in a coarse cloth manufactured 
in their own country: their holiday dresses, which descend 
from father to son, being seldom worn out before the second 
or third generation. The apparel of the women is extremely 
plain, the head-dresses of those of the first quality generally 
consisting only of furs, the produce of the country. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 507 



The police is ■well regulated throughout Switzerland; 
liberty rarely degenerates into licentiousness, except, per- 
haps, on the day of their general assemblies, when it is im- 
possible to prevent some degree of confusion in a meeting 
where there is scarcely any distinction of persons, and where 
every peasant considers himself as equal to the first magis- 
trate. 

The punishment of death is almost fallen into disuse ; the 
people talk of an execution ten years after it has taken place. 
In Switzerland they are economical of human blood. The 
magistrates appear to be actuated by the maxim which incul- 
cates, "that society ought not to cut off one of its members 
for a slight offence." 

Instead of being subjected to capital punishments, felons 
are imprisoned in the house of correction. In these houses 
the regulations are so excellent and so mild — criminals are 
so well fed, and so well attended, that if it were not for the 
iron ring about the leg, the hook at the neck, and the chain 
by which they are linked together, many worthy people who 
are in poverty would be very happy in their situation. 

If the atrocity of the crime should oblige the judges to 
pronounce sentence of death, the cord is the only instrument 
of punishment. "So humane are they," says the Marquis 
de Langle, "that the culprit is first made drunk, then is 
hanged, as it were, without perceiving it; he has no more 
idea of the death he is to suffer, than an oak about to be 
cut down has of its destruction." 

Such is the simplicity that still prevails in some of the 
remote parts of Switzerland, that neither attorney nor notary 
is to be found there ; that contracts are inscribed on pieces 
of wood, instead of parchment ; and there are neither locks, 
nor thieves, nor pilferers. The valley of Praborgne, in the 
dixain of Visp is cited as one of those. 

On each side of the road that runs through the valley of 
Muotta, in the canton of Schweitz, are several ranges of shops 
uninhabited, yet filled with various goods, of which the prices 
are marked ; any passengers who wish to become purchasers 



508 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE 



enter the shops, take away the merchandise, and deposit the 
price, which the owners call for in the evening. 

At Ormont as soon as the return of the fair weather per- 
mits the shepherds to reascend, with their flocks and herds, 
those mountains which supply their summer feed, they pro- 
ceed to the election of a king. Neither intrigues, factions, 
nor wealth, determine their suffrages. They calculate only 
the services done to their community. If any one of them 
by his intrepidity or skill has delivered them from the ravages 
of a bear, or has slain a voracious wolf, or has enabled them 
to get rid of some other nuisance, he is forced on a throne, 
which neither ceremony nor care surrounds. On these oc- 
casions, when appeal is made to his authority, a silent, solemn 
ring is formed about him, under the oldest tree of the moun- 
tain ; his audience-hall is the circle of shade. Instead of a 
sceptre, he grasps a knotty staff; and perhaps some trophy 
of his prowess, as the skin of a wild beast, is the ornament 
of his person. If any shepherd has been convicted of pro- 
fane swearing, or quarrelsome provocation, or has been guilty 
of any acts of intemperance, or of cruelty toward the cattle 
intrusted to his care, he is made to stand up in this circle: 
the accusation and defence are heard : the king dooms him to 
some adequate punishment; and the sentence is religiously 
executed. This despotic authority over the shepherds is ex- 
ercised with great wisdom and equity. 

The inhabitants of that part of Switzerland called Valais 
are very much subject to goitres, or large excrescences of 
flesh, that grow from the throat, and often increase to an 
enormous size ; but what is more extraordinary, idiocy also 
remarkably abounds among them. Instances of both- kinds 
perpetually attract the attention of travellers: some idiots 
may be seen basking in the sun with their tongues out, and 
their heads hanging down, exhibiting the most affecting spec- 
tacle of intellectual imbecility that can possibly be conceived. 
It is not altogether certain what are the causes which pro- 
duce these strange phenomena. 

Although the idiots are frequently the children of goitrous 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC, 609 



parents, and have usually those swellings themselves, yet they 
are sometimes the offspring even of healthy parents, whose 
other children are properly organized, and are themselves 
free from guttural excrescences. These tumors, when they 
increase to a considerable magnitude, check perspiration, and 
render those who are afflicted with them exceedingly indolent 
and languid. 

It is to be presumed that a people accustomed to these ex- 
crescences will not be shocked at their deformity ; but they 
are not considered as beauties, as some writers have asserted. 
To judge from the accounts of many travellers, it might be 
supposed that the natives, without exception, were either 
idiots or goitrous; whereas, in fact, the Valaisans in gene- 
ral are a robust race ; and all that which with truth can be 
affirmed is, that goitrous persons and idiots abound more in 
the districts of the Valais than perhaps in any other part of 
the globe. 

Geneva, though a small canton, is the most interesting of 
any, from the activity and intellectual culture of its citizens, 
and the influence they have exercised over Europe. It is 
situated at the western extremity of the beautiful lake bear- 
ing the same name. The inhabitants speak the French lan- 
guage, and are chiefly professors of the Reformed religion. 
Geneva, the fortified capital, is the most populous and indus- 
trious city in Switzerland. It is distinguished for the intel- 
ligence of its society, its literary institutions, and its manu- 
factures of watches and jewelry. The number of inhabitants 
reaches about thirty-one thousand.* The neighbouring ter- 
ritory contains, among others, the towns of Yersoix and 
Caronge. Many of the country seats are romantically situ- 
ated and distinguished for their elegance. 

The canton of Vaud formed originally part of the duchy 
of Savoy, from which, about the time of the Reformation, it 
was conquered by Berne ; but that state, imbued with aris- 
tocratic ideas, communicated to its new acquisition few of the 
privileges which it had acquired for itself. It ruled the Pays 
* Ungewitter. 



510 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



de Vaud as a subject state, and with some degree of severity. 
In the shock occasioned by the French invasion this territory 
obtained its emancipation, and exists now as a separate and 
independent canton. It occupies the whole northern border 
of the Lake of Geneva, which does not, like the southern, 
consist of Alps piled on Alps, but of gentle hills and smiling 
valleys, gradually sloping upward to the moderate elevation 
of the Jura. The vines of this region are considered equal 
to any in Europe ; and the wine made from them has a very 
considerable reputation. Lausanne, the capital, enjoys per- 
haps the finest site of any city in the world. Placed in the 
very centre of the Leman Lake, it commands a full view over 
that noble expanse, and those ranges of mightiest Alps, on 
the opposite shore, which are terminated by the awful and 
snow-clad pinnacles of Mont Blanc. These attractions, 
heightened by those derived from the adventures of Rosseau, 
and his celebrated romance, have drawn a multitude of visit- 
ers and residents from all parts of Europe, who seek there 
an agreeable and beautiful retirement. The town, however, 
is neither large nor well-built, though it has a fine Gothic 
cathedral. The house of Gibbon, and the cabinet where he 
wrote the last lines of his history, are visited by travellers. 
Vevay, farther up the lake, is a somewhat thriving little vil- 
lage, almost equal in beauty to Lausanne, and commanding 
singularly fine views toward the head of the lake. 

The canton of the Valais extends from the head of the 
Lake of Geneva along the upper valley of the Rhone, which 
almost wholly composes it. The Valais is one of the most 
singular, picturesque, and romantic regions that are to be 
found on the globe. It consists of a deep valley, one- hun- 
dred miles long, and from two to twelve in breadth, shut in 
on both sides by the most enormous mountains that a,re to be 
found in Europe ; on the south by the Italian chain, St. Ber- 
nard, Monte Rosa, the Simplon, and St. Gothard ; on the 
north by the Schreckhorn, the Wetterhorn, the Grimsel, the 
Gemmi. The lower districts, extending along the Rhone, 
are sheltered from every wind, and sometimes exposed to a 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 511 



scorctimg heat, like that of the centre of Africa. Their 
plains produce grain, rich pastures, and even luxuriant vines ; 
but these gifts of nature are not improved with the same dili- 
gence as in the neighbouring cantons of Berne and Vaud. 

The canton of Berne, separated from the Valais by the 
great chain of the central horns or peaks, though shorn of 
its subject territories, holds still somewhat the most promi- 
nent place among the Swiss republics. Berne is divided into 
two parts, of which the northern, comprising a great part of 
the plain of Switzerland, is well cultivated by a laborious 
peasantry. The southern consists of the Oberland, or the 
declivity of the mouiitain range, a tract entirely employed in 
pasturage, where $1500 to $2500 is esteemed a fortune, and 
tiled dwellings and glass windows give to their owners a 
reputation of wealth. The pressure, however, of a redundant 
population has occasionally reduced them to severe distress. 

The city of Berne, generally considered the capital of 
Switzerland, is situated in the centre of the plain, in a com- 
manding position above the Aar, which nearly encircles it on 
all sides. Fine and ancient woods reach almost to the gates 
of the city, bearing a noble and even majestic aspect. It 
suggests the idea of a Roman town; yet its handsomest 
houses and most sumptuous edifices date all since 1T60. The 
Gothic cathedral of the fifteenth century, the church of St. 
Esprit, the mint, and the hospital, are among its principal 
public buildings ; while the private mansions are handsome, 
and solid rather than showy. But the magnificence of Berne 
is mainly derived from its wide and lofty terraces, command- 
ing the most superb views over the plain beneath, and the 
entire range of the Alps ; from the spacious fountains by 
which its streets are supplied and refreshed, and from the 
fine avenues of trees which penetrate through the city. The 
constitution of Berne is the most aristocratic in Switzerland; 
and notwithstanding the diminished power of the state, this 
spirit is still in full operation. The scramble and contest for 
office, even among the nearest relations, is said in this small 
sphere to be as eager as in the greatest capitals. Berne is 



512 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



not, nor ever was, a literar j town ; yet it has a public libra- 
ry, to wbicb some valuable collections are attached. Popu- 
lation, twenty-four thousand. 

The Four Forest Cantons, Schweitz, Uri, Unterwalden, 
and Lucerne, the cradle of Swiss liberty, form a territory 
situated to the east of Berne, and south of the Valais. Here 
nature begins to lay aside that awful and rugged character 
which she wears in the southern chains, and in those enclos- 
ing the Rhone. The mountains are not so continuous, or so 
lofty ; their upper regions are not covered with eternal snow, 
nor do fields of ice, descending from their sides, cover the 
surrounding plains. The two chief heights, those of Pilate 
and the Righi, rise solitary, like columns, to the height of 
six or seven thousand feet, above ranges which do not exceed 
half that elevation. This country is crossed in all directions 
by the Lake of Lucerne, or of the Four Forest Cantons, of 
great extent, and shooting branches in every direction, which 
form each as it were a separate lake. Although the objects 
are not so grand as in the valleys of Chamouni or of the 
Rhone, yet the great variety of aspects, the interchange of 
rural and Alpine scenery, the numerous villages and farm- 
houses perched on the cliffs, render the banks of this lake, 
in the opinion of many, the most pleasing portion of Swiss 
landscape. Some of the mountains, from their solitary ele- 
vation, and the crumbling materials of which they are com- 
posed, inspire a constant apprehension of their breaking 
down. 

The cities in this pastoral region do not attain to any im- 
portant magnitude. Schweitz, the cradle of the Helvetic 
confederacy, to which it has given its name, is little" more 
than a handsome village, situated amid the finest mountain 
pastoral scenery, rich meadows, and verdant knolls, em- 
bosomed amid rugged clifis and Alpine peaks, tinkling with 
the sound of innumerable cow-bells, and echoing with the 
tune of the Ranz des Vaches. Lucerne, on the west, is con- 
siderably larger, and may be considered the capital of the 
Forest Cantons. It is nobly situated on an arm of the lake 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 513 



enclosed by Mount Pilate, and others of the loftiest heights 
in this part of Switzerland. The city itself is adorned by 
some ancient and venerable structures, and its different parts, 
separated by branches of the lake, are connected by wooden 
bridges of remarkable length and peculiar structure. The 
cabinets of Lucerne contain some interesting Swiss anti- 
quities. 

The canton of Unterwalden is likewise entirely mountain- 
ous and pastoral, enclosed by the high chain of the Surren 
Alps, which surround it with an almost inaccessible rampart. 
They form a decided contrast to the soft pastoral valleys of 
the interior, particularly that which surrounds the little lake 
of Sarnen. Here all that is gloomy and rugged in Alpine 
scenery, its peaks of naked rock, its glaciers, its snowy moun- 
tains, and roaring torrents disappear, and are succeeded by 
rounded hills of the most graceful form, covered with woods 
and the freshest verdure, and interspersed with rural abodes, 
which soften without impairing that character of stillness 
and solitude which reigns through every part of this romantic 
valley. Sarnen is the capital of what is called the Obwald ; 
but Stantz, in the Nedwald, is the chief city of the canton. 
Uri, which only touches the lake at the south-east point by its 
little capital of Altorf, composes the fourth democratic can- 
ton. It extends to the south over a wild and awful range of 
the loftiest Alps, including that mass named Mont St. Goth- 
ard, which was supposed, till within this half century, to 
contain the most elevated peaks in Europe. 

Zug is a little lake, with an encircling canton, the smallest 
and least populous in Switzerland. The lake, whose waters 
are the deepest of any except Constance, is surrounded by 
pleasing, pastoral hills, of but moderate elevation ; on the 
south, however, the colossal heights of E.ighi and Pilate are 
reflected in its waters, and the dim forms of the glaciers 
appear in the distance. The town is seated on a hill so im- 
mediately above the lake, that in 1435, a whole street fell 
in, with its walls and towers, and sixty persons perished. 
The place is ancient, and has produced many warriors, who 

33 



514 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



distinguished themselves both in the native and foreign 
service. 

Zurich, to the south-east of Zug, and approaching to the 
German border, is one of the most interesting of all the 
cantons, by its intelligence, industry, and prosperity. The 
long lake on which it is situated partakes not of the grand 
and awful character which marks the scenery of the High 
Alps. Its hills, green to the summit, are covered with vil- 
lages, culture, and habitations ; nature appears only under a 
soft and pleasing aspect ; though still, to the south, a dim 
view is obtained of the snowy ranges of the High Alps. 
The city of Zurich is situated on the Linmat, where it issues 
out of the northern extremity of the lake. Zurich is the 
literary capital of German Switzerland. Even in the middle 
ages it was called " the learned;" and the exertions of Zuin- 
glius at that era to restore the lost rights of religion, reason, 
and humanity, threw a lustre on its name. In modern times 
its fame has been chiefly poetical and imaginative ; and the 
works of Bodmer, Gessner, • Zimmerman, and Lavater have 
excited interest throughout Europe. Painting and music 
have also been cultivated with greater ardour and success 
than in any other part of Switzerland. Zurich possesses a 
library of forty thousand volumes, with some manuscripts of 
importance : it has also valuable collections in the different 
branches of natural history. Population, fifteen thousand. 

The three cantons of Glarus, St. Gall, and Appenzell, 
which extend along the eastern frontier toward Germany, 
present a somewhat different aspect from those of the west 
and centre. They are covered to a great extent with moun- 
tain ranges, which, rising to the height of seven or eight 
thousand feet, do not reach the regions of perpetual snow, or 
pour down avalanches or glaciers into the plains beneath ; 
but rise in varied shapes, dark, rugged, and awful. One of 
the leading features is the Lake of Wallenstadt, twelve miles 
long and three broad, where the naked cliffs rise in pictur- 
esque grandeur to an amazing height, and dip so perpendicu-. 
larly into the water, as to leave very few points at which a 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 515 



boat can approach. These mountain walls elsewhere enclose 
luxuriant valleys, which open as they proceed north toward 
the Lake of Constance ; and a great part of St. Gall and 
Appenzell presents a level surface. Into these cantons the 
cotton manufacture has been introduced on a great scale, 
and has converted the hardy huntsmen and husbandmen of 
the Alps into weavers and embroiderers. At the same time, 
the original simplicity and honesty of the Swiss is supposed 
to have been greatly impaired by this change of habit. 

Among the small capitals of those three cantons, St. Gall 
is the most important and the most ancient. During the 
ninth and tenth centuries, it was considered as the greatest 
seat of learning in Europe. Appenzell has adopted the ma- 
nufacturing system in its fullest extent ; and on its limited 
territory maintains the most dense population of any part of 
Switzerland. Though removed beyond the domain of the 
Higher Alps, it has several steep summits, which command 
extensive views over the neighbouring territories of Tyrol 
and Swabia. The population of Appenzell is divided into 
two quite distinct portions : the rural, which is almost all 
catholic ; the manufacturing and commercial, almost wholly 
protestant. Glarus is situated among the most rugged and 
rocky tracts of this part of Switzerland. The town lies 
deep in a valley, overhung by ramparts of rock so elevated, 
that the sun in winter is seen only for four hours of the day. 
This buried situation, narrow, crooked streets, its diminutive 
and antiquated houses, with low entrances, heavy doors, and 
walls painted in fresco, the silence and stillness which pre- 
vails, unite in suggesting the idea of a city dug out of the 
earth, like Pompeii or Herculaneum. 

Thurgovia, or Thurgau, which stands on the Lake of Con- 
stance, and on the Swabian border, is a tract in which Swit- 
zerland loses almost entirely its peculiar character. Only to 
the south, on the side of the Tockenburg, rise hills of two 
or three thousand feet high, covered with rich meadows and 
Alpine pastures. The rest consists of valleys and plains of 
extreme fertility, covered with vines and rich harvests. Two 



516 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE : 



crops of flax are raised in the year, and an extent of several 
leagues is covered with plantations of pears and apples, from 
which excellent cider is made. There are manufactures of 
very fine linen, which are still carried on, though the trade 
is injured by the general use of cotton stuffs. This territory 
is now erected into separate and independent canton, of 
which the little city of Frakenfeld, the ancient residence of 
the bailifis, is the capital. 

The city of Constance, though now belonging to the Grand 
Duchy of Baden, is locally attached to Thurgau and to Swit- 
aerland. Constance, during the Middle Ages, was one of the 
great imperial cities, possessing a population of thirty^ix 
thousand souls, extensive linen manufactures, and a great 
inland trade. Its population is now reduced to two thousand 
souls : the grass grows in the streets; the iron doors turn on 
plated hinges, and have the figures of warriors carved on 
them ; and the great hall, 153 feet long and 60 broad, in 
which the council met, is now employed as a yarn market. 
Constance is, however, beautifully situated on the lake of that 
name, called by the Germans the Boden See. This wide ex- 
panse appears divested of all the awful grandeur which marks 
the interior regions ; but the wide circuit of its cultivated 
shores, swelling into gentle hills, bears an aspect peculiarly 
soft and pleasing. Although this lake be everywhere sur- 
rounded with level country, it has the deepest water of any 
in Switzerland. 

Schaffhuasen is a small canton, which, situated entirely on 
the north or German side of the Rhine, scarcely belongs to 
Switzerland, unless through political ties arising out of pecu- 
liar circumstances. The capital was originally an imperial 
town ; its burghers extended their possessions till, with a view 
to security, they sought and found admittance into the Hel- 
vetic League. The territory of Schaifhausen is diversified 
by hills of moderate elevation, thickly planted with vines, the 
produce of which is held in high estimation. The town of 
Schaff'hausen was distinguished by a magnificent wooden bridge 
over the Rhine, constructed in 1758 by an artist of the can- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 517 

ton of Appenzell ; but this celebrated erection was burned 
down by the French in April, 1799, when the Austrians ob- 
tained possession of Schaffhausen. It is still, however, dis- 
tinguished and visited on account of one of the grandest 
phenomena of nature, the great fall of the Rhine. 

Basle forms another frontier canton, and has also cha- 
racters which make it only imperfectly Swiss. A steep 
mountain chain shuts it completely in from the rest of Swit- 
zerland, no part of which can be reached without crossing it. 
The slopes of this chain, in looking toward Basle, and de- 
scending to the fertile plain on the Rhine, are covered with 
rich pastures. Basle, though it has lost much of its former 
importance, is still the seat of a great transit trade ; and 
forms an important military position, from its command of 
the first stone bridge over the Rhine. In the fine arts, this 
city could boast of Holbein, an eminent painter, many of 
whose best works still adorn its edifices. Population, twenty- 
three thousand. 

The three cantons of Argovia, Soleure, and Friburg stretch 
from Basle in a south-westerly direction along the course of 
the Aar, They compose, along with part of Berne, the great 
plain of Switzerland, enclosed on one side by the ridge of 
the Jura, and on the other by the great range of the central 
glaciers. This plain presents not the same dead level as 
those of France and Italy, but is diversified by detached hills 
and branches of the Jura, some of which rise even to the 
height of five or six thousand feet ; but these hills are green 
to the summit, generate no glaciers, and in summer throw off 
altogether their covering of snow. This district, accordingly, 
contains the richest pastures in Switzerland, where are pro- 
duced the Gruyere and other cheeses, which enjoy so high a 
reputation throughout Europe. The cities of this district are 
among the most important in the confederacy. Friburg, pic- 
turesquely situated, partly on an irregular ridge of rocks, 
surrounded with walls and towers, partly on the plain beneath, 
forms a sort of capital of catholic Switzerland. The aristo- 
cratic spirit was carried in Friburg to an extraordinary 



518 THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPEt 



height; the magistrates had even, as at Venice, a secret 
council, by whose invisible machinery all affairs of state were 
conducted. An eminently exclusive spirit still prevails, which 
shuts the door against new men and new ideas, and opposes 
those modern improvements which have found a place in the 
neighbouring cantons. Some steps, however, though on a 
contracted scale, have been taken toward the instruction of 
the lower orders. Soleure is a small town and canton, go- 
verned by the same aristocratic spirit as Friburg. The can- 
ton includes some part of the range of the Jura ; and the 
Weissenstein, a summit immediately behind the city, com- 
mands, according to Ebel, the finest view of the whole range 
of Swiss mountains that can any where be obtained. Aar- 
burg, in the same canton, deserves notice, as the only forti- 
fied town in Switzerland. 

The canton of Neufchatel, including Vallengin, covers a 
long line of the summits and valleys of the Jura. The poli- 
tical constitution of Neufchatel presents several anomalies : 
it has long been subject to the King of Prussia, a sovereign 
absolute elsewhere, but here strictly limited, exercising the 
executive power by his governor, but leaving the legislative 
functions in the hands of the people. Neufchatel has an- 
other relation, by which it forms one of the confederated 
cantons of Switzerland. On the whole, the people of this 
district have long enjoyed civil and political rights more 
ample than in most other parts even of Switzerland; and 
they accordingly drew numerous emigrants from the aristo- 
cratic cantons. Thus encouraged, and stimulated by the 
difficulties with which they had to contend, they have dis- 
played an industry and ingenuity worthy of admiration. Not 
only the ground is carefully cultivated, but manufactures, 
especially watchmaking, have been carried to great per- 
fection. Neufchatel is a small, well-built town, finely situated, 
above the lake near its northern extremity, and commanding 
delightful views over a great part of Switzerland. Yverdun, 
at the opposite end of the lake, is also an ancient and agree- 
able town. The inhabitants are distinguished by intellectual 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 519 



culture, and their city by the residence of Pestalozzi, and by 
the schools formed according to his ingenious system. The 
high valleys of Locle and Chaux de Fond consist almost en- 
tirely of rocks scattered with the wildest and rudest irregu- 
larity ; yet they are covered with a thriving and industrious 
population, employed in the making of lace and watches. 
The natives of these valleys have distinguished themselves 
by many important inventions in the latter art. 

The Orisons form an extensive canton in the south-east, 
bordering on Italy and the Tyrol. The district is altogether 
mountainous and pastoral, though nowhere rising to that ex- 
traordinary elevation which is attained by the more westerly 
chains. Mount Splugen, however, almost rivals the rugged 
horrors of the valley of Schellenen. The people are rather 
a peculiar race, composed in a great measure of the descendants 
of the ancient Rhsetians, who speak singular dialects, called 
Roman and Latin ; being compounded of the Latin with that 
of the original native tribes. The Grisons have an interior 
government entirely popular, divided into twenty-six jurisdic- 
tions, each of which is a little republic in itself: the towns 
are small, situated along the course of the Rhine. Coire or 
Chur, the capital of the canton, and the original seat of the 
League of God's House, is an ancient episcopal city, still 
containing some Roman monuments, and a cathedral of the 
eighth century. Dissentis and Truns, at which latter the 
Grey League was signed, are only agreeable and picturesque 
villages. 

The new canton of Tesino, extending along the Italian 
border, includes the southern slope of that loftiest range of 
the Alps by which Italy is separated from Switzerland. It 
is composed of a succession of about thirty Alpine valleys, 
among which the chief are Levantin, Riviera, Brenna, and 
Bellinzone, which, though of great elevation, enjoy, in conse- 
quence of their fine southern exposure, a much milder climate, 
and produce grain on sites more elevated, than can be done 
on the northern side of the mountains. Their pastures, in- 
deed, are less rich, not being fed by those numerous streams, 



520 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE : 



which descend from the snow and glaciers of the higher Alps. 
The whole country, however, and particularly the shores of 
the great lakes of Maggoire and Lugano, with their orna- 
mented islands, present almost an Elysian aspect. Yet this, 
the most favoured by nature of all the cantons, is debased by 
a poverty, an indolence, and a neglect of culture unknown in 
any other part of Switzerland. The meanest races in Ger- 
man Switzerland are superior to those of this district ; it has 
even been said that not a hog exists there which would con-, 
tent itself with the habitations in which the peasantry reside. 
The people are in fact of Italian origin, and never enjoyed 
that independence which is the genuine birthright of the 
Swiss peasant. Lugano, on the lake of the same name, is 
the largest town in the canton, and has a considerable num- 
ber of churches and convents. The Lake of Lugano is 
broken into several gulfs, all of which display the most pic- 
turesque and enchanting scenes. It abounds remarkably in 
fish, of which twenty to thirty thousand quintals are sent 
weekly to Milan. This territory has given birth to many 
eminent architects. The northern head of the Lake of Como 
is enclosed by some of the rudest mountains of the Grisons, 
where the scene passes gradually into the rich and orna- 
mented plain of Lombardy. Meantime the dignity of capital 
of the canton is given to Bellinzone ; a pleasant small town, 
commanding the Val d'Airolo, and consequently the passage 
over the St. Gothard. 



The kingdom of Prussia, which at the beginning of the 
last century had neither name nor place among the states of 
Europe, has by rapid advances become one of the most power- 
ful monarchies. The basis was formed by the territory of 
Brandenburg, the ruler of which ranked as elector, and was 
one of the chief of the second-rate princes of the empire. 
About the beginning of the seventeenth century, the elector 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 521 



acquired the Grand Duchy of Prussia, a territory held for 
some time by the knights of the Teutonic order, who being 
unsuccessful against the Turks in Palestine, turned their 
efforts to the conversion and conquest of the northern bor- 
ders of Europe. The united state, however, did not make 
any great figure till the middle of the seventeenth century, 
when Frederick I. not only assumed the title of king, but 
spent his life in forming an army, and raising its discipline 
to the highest pitch. This army devolved on his son, the 
great Frederick, whose daring and enterprising spirit was 
not long of employing it in the extension of the monarchy. 
From the house of Austria he wrested Silesia, one of the 
finest of its provinces. By the partition of Poland, an ini- 
quitous proceeding, in which he seconded Catherine, he not 
only extended, but connected together, many of his scattered 
possessions. In 1806, the battle of Jena seemed to have 
for ever prostrated the monarchy; but the disastrous cam- 
paign of the French in Russia, and subsequently the patriotic 
and universal rising of the people, completely expelled the 
usurping power, and not only re-established the kingdom in 
its ancient rights and possessions, but acquired several new 
provinces. 

The parts of the Prussian monarchy are so various and de- 
tached, that it is difficult to connect them under any general 
view. In Germany, she has the entire territory of Branden- 
burg, by far the greatest part of Silesia, and Pomerania, of 
which Sweden is now entirely stripped. Her Saxon posses- 
sions consist of Magdeburg, Merseburg, and Erfurt. In 
Westphalia, she has Minden, Miinster, and Arensberg; on 
the Rhine, Diisseldorf, Cologne, Cleves, Coblentz, and Triers. 
East of Germany, she has the duchies of East and West 
• Prussia, fi'om which she takes her name. In Switzerland, 
she has the principality of Neufchatel ; and in Poland that of 
Posen. The two Prussias, with Posen and the eastern Ger- 
man provinces, form nearly a connected territory, which com- 
prises the main body of the monarchy. The Westphalia and 



522 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



Rhenish provinces form a detached western portion, separated 
from the rest by Hanover, Hesse, and Saxony. 

The total area of Prussia is 108,214 square miles, and its 
population 16,100,000 persons. The surface of the eastern 
portion of the country is generally level, while that of the 
western is mountainous. The chief mountain range is the 
Reisengbirge ; the others are the Hartz, with the Brocken, 
the Thuringerwald, the Westerwald Hunsriiken, Eifel, and 
Seven Hills. The soil is highly diversified. Corn, wine, 
timber, and cattle are raised in quantities more than sufficient 
for home consumption. The manufactures are both numerous 
and important, especially those of cloth, cotton goods, linens, 
silks, velvets, and articles of iron and steel. The inland 
trade is extensive, but the foreign commerce is quite limited. 

Two-thirds of the population are Evangelicals, the re- 
mainder being made up of Jews, Catholics, Moravians, and 
members of the Greek church. No country in the world has 
superior means for education. The universities, academies, 
and literary institutions in general are famous, while every 
child of a certain age is compelled to attend a school for a 
fixed period. Few persons can be found Avho cannot read 
and write. In 1843, the primary schools were frequented by 
2,328,146 children, and the higher schools were attended in 
proportion. 

The government, since the revolutionary period of 1848, 
has been a limited constitutional monarchy. But the power 
of the king is sufficient to control the domestic and foreign 
policy at all times. The assembly has the shadow rather 
than the substance of independent deliberation. Office- 
holders, under the king, rule all legislation. The destruction 
of the extensive executive patronage can alone secure free 
legislation to Prussia. 

The regular army of Prussia, on a plain footing, comprises 
122,897 men. But this can be increased by the militia to 
about 553,000 men. The large military force is the principal 
cause of the very heavy taxation under which Prussia groans. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 523 




Polish Jews of Posen. 

This great state has quite an extensive line of coast upon the 
Baltic, but has never sought to equip a navy. 

Prussia is divided into eight provinces, each of which is 
subdivided into governmental districts, and the latter are 
again divided into circles. 

The provinces are Brandenburg, Pomerania, Silesia, 
Saxony, Westphalia, the Rhenish Province, the Province of 
Prussia, and Posen. 

Brandenburg forms a great mass of territory in the eastern 
part of the north of Germany, bordering on Poland. It is 
usually called the Mark of Brandenburg, and comprises the 
cities of Berlin, Frankfort, and Potsdam: it is neither the 
most fertile nor the most beautiful part of this great country. 
It consists of a vast plain of sand, in some places presenting a 
dead level, in others blown into hills of little elevation. The 
grain, though carefully cultivated, is not sufficient for internal 



524 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



supply, but is of excellent quality. Tobacco and flax are 
cultivated with success. The breed of horses and oxen has 
been improved; but the pastures are not sufficiently rich for 
them. Sheep are bred in great numbers on the sand-hills; 
and their wool, improved by the mixture of the merino, ranks 
next to that of Silesia. The woods cover a fourth part of 
the surface, but are chiefly furs and pines, afibrding excellent 
masts, with some good oak forests. The manufactures, few 
of which originally belonged to the district, having been 
patronized with great zeal by the government, have consider- 
ably increased. That of woollens is the most extensive ; the 
next in importance are linens and silk : porcelain and other 
ornamental fabrics are carried on at Berlin. The inland 
trade is very considerable, being favoured by the great rivers 
which pass through the province. The Elbe, indeed, only 
touches its western border ; but its great tributaries, the 
Elster and the Spree, cross all Brandenburg ; and the Oder 
runs through it from the north. The navigation of these 
rivers is greatly aided by the canals that unite them. 

Berlin, the capital of Brandenburg, and of the Prussian 
monarchy, is one of the finest cities in Europe ; being the 
studied creation of an absolute monarch, it has been formed 
upon a regular plan, and on a liberal scale of expenditure. 
The Brandenburg gate is considered the most simple and 
majestic portal in Europe. The streets and squares are 
broad, spacious, and regular. The Spree, which divides 
Berlin, has only the appearance of a broad ditch, navigated 
by flat-bottomed boats. On the opposite side is the old town, 
a scene of traffic, with little pretension to beauty. The 
population, which, in March, 1848, numbered 420,000,, has 
since decreased, it is calculated, about 100,000, in conse- 
quence of emigration. Out of every hundred, fifteen were 
military. Berlin is a busy city, carrying on various manu- 
factures of woollen, linen, and particularly silk, with a royal 
manufactory of porcelain, the products of which have been 
preferred by some to those of Dresden. There are numerous 
makers of surgical and mathematical instruments. The trade 



626 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



of Berlin is also extensive, as it communicates by the Spree, 
and its canals, both with the Elbe and the Oder. An uni- 
versity has been founded, and ranks as one of the first in 
Germany. This capital has also royal academies of science 
and the fine arts ; a splendid public library ; cabinets of 
natural history; a botanic garden, containing twelve thou- 
sand exotic plants; and a royal museum, containing many 
fine works of art. The revolutions of 1848 were disastrous 
for Berlin, seriously afiecting its prosperity. 

The other towns of Brandenburg are not of first-rate im- 
portance. Potsdam, designed by Frederick the Great as a 
military residence, is regularly and very handsomely built ; 
containing forty thousand inhabitants. On every side are 
seen stiff figures of recruits moving slowly to the marching 
step, under smart and severe instructors. Frederick's palace 
of Sans Souci is remarkable for the extreme simplicity of 
those apartments which were occupied by himself: it con- 
tains one of the finest picture-galleries in Germany. Frank- 
fort on the Oder cannot challenge a comparison with its 
namesake on the Mayn ; it is still a considerable town of 
thirty thousand inhabitants, with a strong bridge over the 
Oder, which is here a broad and spacious stream. It has 
some manufactures, and a considerable trade, holding five 
yearly markets, much frequented by the Russians and Poles. 
Brandenburg, the old capital, is still a city of 16,600 inhab- 
itants. Kustrin and Spandau are fortified towns, the former 
of great strength. 

Pomerania is a long line of narrow, sandy coast, lying 
along the Baltic. The Oder here enters that sea, forming at 
its mouth a large and winding haff, or bay, on the opposite 
side of which are the large islands of Usedom and Wollin. 
It is divided into the governments of Stettin, Stralsund, and 
Koslin. The soil is in many parts far from productive ; yet 
in others, especially that which formerly belonged to Sweden, 
it is made by industry to yield harvests of grain more than 
sufficient for the interior supply. There are few manufac- 
tures ; but the commodities of Brandenburg and Silesia are 



528 THE PEOfLE OE EUROPE 



brought down the Oder, and exported from Stettin, Stralsund, 
and other ports. Stettin, the capital, is not only one of the 
strongest fortresses, but one of the most flourishing commer- 
cial cities in the monarchy, containing a population of forty- 
five thousand, including the military. Stralsund, the former 
capital of Swedish Pomerania, lies in a wide, flat territory, 
separated by a narrow channel from the great island of 
Kugen, and so enclosed by bays and lakes that it can com- 
municate with the continent only by bridges. It ranked as 
one of the most celebrated fortresses in Europe, and bade 
defiance to the utmost efi'orts of Wallenstein ; but the walls 
are now suffered to go to ruin, and the ramparts are used 
only as a promenade. Population, eighteen thousand. An- 
klam, Stolpe, Wollin, Stargard, and Koslin, are also ports 
and towns deserving of mention. 

Silesia is an extensive, oblong tract between Bohemia and 
Poland. It was originally a Polish province ; but German 
settlers have now occupied the greater part of it, and intro- 
duced industry and prosperity. From its fertility, and the 
industry of its inhabitants, it is considered the brightest 
jewel in the Prussian crown. The first exploit of Frederick 
the Great was to seize possession of Silesia : the main object 
of all the wars waged against him by Maria Theresa was to 
recover this territory ; the final annexation of which to Prus- 
sia raised her to the rank of one of the great powers. The 
Oder, rising on its southern border, divides it into two nearly 
equal parts, of which the western is mountainous or hilly : 
its population is altogether German, and it is the seat of the 
principal manufactures ; while the eastern consists, in a great 
measure, of flat and sandy plains, and is partly occupied by 
Sclavonic races. Silesia contains 15,600 square miles, and 
is divided into the governments of Breslau, Oppeln, and Lig- 
nitz. So great is the population, that it is only in favourable 
years that the produce of grain sufiices for the consumption 
of the people. Flax is cultivated in a very great quantity ; 
yet still not sufiicient for the immense manufacture of which 
it is the material. Hops, tobacco, and madder are also con- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITtJTiONS, ETC. 



529 




Silesians. 



siderable productions. The live stock that is reared is not 
adequate to the wants of the country, with the exception of 
sheep ; wool has been brought to such perfection as to be an 
extensive object of export, in a great measure superseding 
the Spanish in the market of Britain. Silesia is, perhaps, 
the most manufacturing country in all Germany ; its linens 
in particular, are considered the best in the world for pliancy, 
brilliant whiteness, and durability. About half of the in- 
habitants are employed in spinning. Yarn is exported ; and 
a great quantity of Bohemian cloth is brought hither to be 
bleached. The seat of the manufacture is chiefly in the 
mountainous district, where the numerous streams and the 
purity of the water are highly favourable to its various pro- 
cesses. The trade of Silesia consists in the exportation of 
its manufactures, chiefly by the ports of Hamburgh and 
Stettin, and in the importation of grain and cattle from Po- 
land and Moldavia; of wine from Austria; and of India 
goods, silk, and cotton, by way of Hamburgh. 

The towns of Silesia are large, close-built and well forti- 

34 



530 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



fied. Breslau, the capital, on the Oder, had in 1847, 112,800 
inhabitants. It has extensive trade and manufactures, and 
numerous literary institutions of note. The people are as 
busy, intelligent, and prosperous as any in Prussia. 

Prussian Saxony forms a large extent of straggling terri- 
tory, consisting of portions severed at various times and in 
various ways from all the neighbouring states, great and 
small, sometimes having fragments enclosed within them, and 
sometimes enclosing within itself fragments of them. Gene- 
rally speaking, it may be viewed as nearly a square territory 
extending on both sides of the Elbe, between Royal Saxony, 
Brandenburg, and Hanover. It is divided into the govern- 
ments of Magdeburg, Merseburg, and Erfurt. It belongs 
generally to the vast, wide, flat plain of northern Germany, 
though on its western side it borders on the Hartz and the 
forest of Thuringia. There are considerable sandy and 
marshy tracts, but upon the whole it is abundantly productive 
of grain, which is cultivated with particular skill and dili- 
gence. Flax and tobacco, with rape and linseed, are also in 
great plenty. Horses, and horned cattle are kept up merely 
for the purposes of cultivation, but sheep are in number 
about 1,500,000, and the Saxon wool ranks with the very 
best in Europe. The mineral wealth is considerable, espe- 
cially salt, of which a great vein traverses nearly the whole 
of this territory. The common manufactures of linen and 
woollen are generally diffused, without being carried to any 
remarkable extent. The Elbe, which divides the province 
into two parts, affords the opportunity of a very active trade. 
The territory is rated at 9,818 square miles, and its popula- 
tion in 1847 amounted to 1,742,500. The inhabitants are 
almost entirely German and Protestants, this having been at 
an early period the grand seat of Luther's reformation. 

The towns are not generally very large, but numerous, an- 
cient, well fortified, and celebrated in the history of German 
warfare. Magdeburg, which may rank as the capital, has 
always been considered one of the strongest places in Eu- 
rope; and, for its noble defence against Charles V. and 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 531 



Tilly, was regarded as the bulwark of the protestant cause. 
Its works are. of immense extent, bounded on most of its 
circuit by the Elbe, and in the rest by a ditch, not wet, but 
very broad, and carefully undermined. The horrible sacking 
of Magdeburg by the imperialists, in 1631, is still vividly re- 
membered there, with execrations on the memory of Count 
Tilly, by whom it was sanctioned. It is a fine old city ; the 
houses large and massive ; it has a spacious market-place, 
adorned with the statue of Otho the Great, and an irregular 
but very broad principal street. Once a powerful free city, 
it now contains 68,500 inhabitants, a number of manufactures, 
and enjoys a considerable trade up and down in the Elbe. 
Erfurt, formerly one of the principal cities, and a central 
mart, in the north of Germany, has now completely yielded 
the palm to Leipzig ; and, instead of sixty thousand, contains 
only about thirty-two thousand inhabitants. It is still a 
strong fortress, forming the key between Saxony and Fran- 
conia. Wittenberg, formerly a distinguished Saxon capital, 
where the standard of the Reformation was first reared, is 
now only a small but strong town. Halle is a large city 
of thirty-two thousand inhabitants, with one of the most 
flourishing and crowded universities of Germany, and en- 
riched by extensive salt-works in its neighbourhood. Halber- 
stadt is also a large open old town, of eighteen thousand in- 
habitants. Quedlinburg was once distinguished for the un- 
bounded wealth of its nunnery, the abbess of which had the 
principal seat and vote on the bench of prelates ; but since 1696 
its wealth and privileges have been vastly curtailed. Mul- 
hausen, Merseburg, Weissenfels, Naumburg, Torgau, Sten- 
dhal, Salzwedel, are also considerable towns. Lutzen is only 
a village, but its site is distinguished by the victory and fall 
of Gustavus Adolphus, the great protestant hero. 

Prussian Westphalia is also an aggregate of a number of 
small detached parts ; but by cessions and arrondissements 
it has been formed into a pretty compact territory, situated 
between Hanover and Holland, and extending from the Weser 
nearly to the Rhine. It extends to 8272 square miles. The 



532 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



Lippe divides it into two parts ; the northern belongs to the 
great plain, which is sandy and marshy, but affords some good 
corn land ; the southern is covered with ranges of little rocky 
hills branching from the Hartz, which render the soil often 
unfit for the plough, but it is always covered with fine wood. 
The staple to which Westphalia owes its celebrity consists in 
its hogs, which surpass those of all the other provinces, pro- 
ducing the hams so much, famed throughout Europe. The 
valuable minerals of iron, coal, and salt, are also very abun- 
dant. There are extensive manufactures of coarse linen, and 
a few which produce that of finer quality. Upward of 
twenty thousand looms were at work in 1816. The trade of 
the province consists in sending these productions down the 
rivers to Bremen and Holland ; but Prussian Westphalia at 
no point reaches the sea, or even extends to the Rhine. 

The chief towns of Prussian Westphalia are the capitals 
of its three districts, Munster, Minden, and Arensberg. 
Munster, once the seat of a sovereign bishop, and too well 
known from the excesses committed by the Anabaptists, du- 
ring their temporary possession of it, is still a flourishing 
place, which, between 1802 and 1817, increased its population 
from 12,797 to 18,218. The peace of Munster, in 1648, 
forms one of the great eras of European history. Minden, 
celebrated for the signal victory achieved by the British arms 
in 1759, lies on the Weser, and carries on a considerable 
trade. A beautiful landscape is here formed by the river, 
its numerous little tributaries, and a range of wooded moun- 
tains, between which the Weser opens the passage called 
Porta Westphalica. Arensberg, once the seat of a count of 
that name, and Paderborn, the see of a bishop, were distin- 
guished places in the Middle Ages, but have greatly declined. 
There is also a surprising number of little towns : Ruckling- 
hausen, Kosfeld, Steinfurt, Herforden, Brakel, Wasburg, 
Lippstadt, Sost, Hamm, Dortmund, Hagen, Iserlon, Altona, 
and Siegen. 

The Rhenish provinces of Prussia consist of two parts ; one 
bearing the compound appellation of Julich-Cleve-Berg, and 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 633 



the other that of the Lower Rhme. Julich-Cleve-Berg con- 
sists of the three grand duchies of those names, incor- 
porated with the city and part of the bishopric of Co- 
logne, the Prussian part of Guelderland, the abbacies of 
Essen and Werden, and a few other small places. It occu- 
pies almost ninety miles of the course of the Rhine, ex- 
tending on both sides of that river. Of all the Prussian 
territories it is the least favoured by nature. On the eastern 
bank extends a continuous range of mountains, including the 
remarkable group called the Siebengebirge, or Seven Hills ; 
not, indeed, exceeding the height of two thousand feet, but 
naked and rugged. The opposite bank is, indeed, level, but 
consists almost entirely of sandy plains and wide morasses : 
the country, therefore, does not produce corn sufficient for 
its own consumption, nor any thing in abundance except flax. 
Under these natural disadvantages, however, the inhabitants 
exert a manufacturing industry beyond what is found in any 
other part of Prussia, or even of Germany. The grand 
duchy of Berg has been called England in miniature, such is 
the variety of fabrics carried on there. Cloth, metals, and 
tobacco are worked up in almost every shape. The conse- 
quence is, that this district, so little favoured by nature, is 
the most populous, in relation to its extent, of any that be- 
longs to Prussia. It carries on a considerable trade along 
the Rhine and its navigable tributaries, the Ruhr and the 
Lippe ; the Mouse also runs along its western border. The 
hills, particularly the Siebengebirge, present many peculiarly 
bold and picturesque sites, as they rear their heads above the 
river, crowned with ancient castles. Some fine cities adorn 
the territory. Cologne is one of the most ancient in Ger- 
many, and till 1797, was an imperial city, and the seat of a 
bishop, who was once an elector. It contains above ninety- 
five thousand inhabitants, and is the seat of a great trade, 
being the chief medium of intercourse between Germany and 
Holland. There is a great exchange of wine and other pro- 
ductions brought down the Rhine for colonial and manufac- 
tured goods. The liquor called Cologne water is celebrated. 



534 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



Dusseldorf, long an electoral residence, is one of tlie pret- 
tiest cities in Germany, though its walls serve only for a 
promenade, and its splendid collection of pictures has been 
conveyed to Munich. Its spacious squares, its handsome 
houses, arranged in regular streets, and the fine gardens 
which surround the city, constitute its attractions. It has 
also a good deal of trade. Population, twenty-eight thou- 
sand. Cleves, a much smaller town, is situated two miles 
from the Rhine, with which it communicates by canal. The 
late palace of the grand duke is still surrounded by extensive 
gardens, which are open to the public. Bonn, a well-built 
imperial city, of eighteen thousand inhabitants, has a strong 
castle, now in a great measure neglected. Elberfeld and 
Krefeld are large and flourishing places. Its chief seats of 
manufacture, Rees, Solingen, Muhlheim, Reuss, Lennep, are 
also deserving of mention. 

The province of the Lower Rhine occupies a considerably 
greater extent of the course of the river higher up, than that 
last described. The principal part of it belonged formerly 
to the archbishopric of Treves, which, with various little states 
and cities, has now merged into the Prussian dominion. The 
Rhine flows through the middle of this tract, receiving on 
one side the Moselle, and on the other the Lahn and the Leig. 
The province is almost wholly mountainous, the principal 
chains in the west being the Hundsruck, a rocky calcareous 
group, widely extended, but not more than fifteen hundred 
feet high, and from whose sides vast woods overhang the 
Moselle. The tract of Ardennes also touches the extreme 
frontier ; and on the east, the principal chains belong to the 
Wasgau. The banks of the rivers are generally planted with 
vines, and present the most beautiful and pleasing sites that 
are to be found in any part of Germany. The soil and cli- 
mate are very various; but though many tracts are doomed 
to inevitable sterility, a very great part is under careful cul- 
tivation. Rye and oats are the chief grains ; but the most 
characteristic objects are the wines of the Rhine, particularly 
those of Hockheim, (denominated Old Hock,) and those of 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 535 



the Moselle and Ahr : they are celebrated over Europe, and 
from twenty to thirty thousand acres are occupied in produc- 
ing them. As a manufacturing district, the present by no 
means rivals that above described ; yet there is in Aachen a 
very extensive fabric of cloths, some of which are exported. 
These cloths, with wine and wood, form the basis of a con- 
siderable trade, independent of the passage of vessels up and 
down the Rhine. Coblentz, at the junction of the Rhine and 
the Moselle, is the capital of the Prussian province of Lower 
Rhine, situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle. 
It is a very ancient city, once the frequent residence of the 
emperors of the Carlo vingi an dynasty, and afterward of the 
princes of Treves. It contains, therefore, many fine old edi- 
fices, both public and private. During the French revolution 
it was for some time the residence of the exiled court, and 
the asylum of the emigrant nobility. The situation is de- 
lightful, and it is a considerable depot for the Rhenish and 
Moselle wines brought down for embarkation. On the oppo- 
site side of the river is Ehrenbreitstein, a small town, on a 
rock above which stood one of the strongest fortresses in Eu- 
rope : it was demolished in 1801. 

Of the other towns, Treves is considered one of the most 
ancient either in France or Germany, being noticed by the 
Romans under the appellation Trevirorum Civitas. The in- 
habitants have even a boastful proverb, that " before Rome 
was, Treveri stood." It was a great city in the Middle Ages, 
and contains many superb churches and convents as monu- 
ments of its former grandeur ; but many of them are now 
empty, and going to ruin. The place has twenty thousand 
inhabitants, and a considerable trade with France, and in the 
wine and wood of the Moselle. Aachen, better known as 
Aix la Chapelle, is the largest town of the territory, contain- 
ing a population of forty-nine thousand, chiefly employed in 
manufactures. The city is also very ancient, having been a 
residence of the emperors, and the place of their coronation. 
Being built, however, on an irregular spot of ground, its 
streets are extremely uneven, narrow, and dirty. Kreuze- 



536 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



nach and Saarbruck are also considerable towns, and Saar- 
Louis is a strong fortress. St. Goar and Bacharacb are only 
villages ; but a great quantity of the finest Rhenish wine is 
brought down to them. 



Germany comprises that vast tract of country situated in 
the centre of Europe, between 55° and 45° north latitude, 
and between 5° 45' and 19° 45' east from Greenwich; 
bounded on the north by the North and Baltic seas and Den- 
mark. The total area of Germany is 244,375 square miles. 
The surface is divided into two plains and two mountainous re- 
gions. The low plain of northern Germany is naturally ste- 
rile, but abundant rains and the industry of its inhabitants 
make it sufficiently productive to support a dense population. 
The country is intersected with sixty navigable rivers. Canals 
are not numerous. Communication by railroad and river is 
very common throughout Germany. 

The chief of the natural productions of Germany are the 
following: corn, which is raised in quantities sufficient for 
home consumption and for exportation ; wine, which is pro- 
duced chiefly in the Rhenish counties; timber, fruits, flax, 
hops, hemp, horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, fowls, bees, silver, 
iron, copper, quicksilver, lead, and salt. The manufactures 
are various and important, including linen, cotton, and woollen 
goods ; silks, velvet, hardware, cutlery, fire-arms, porcelain, 
glass, musical instruments, watches, and jewelry, and innu- 
merable articles of inferior importance. In commercefGer- 
many engages extensively. The chief ports are Hamburg, 
Bremen, Trieste, Altona, Lubeck, Stetlin, Stralsund, Ros- 
tock, Wismar, Riel, and Cur den. The inland^ trade is very 
active and valuable. Vienna, Leipsic, Cologne, Olberfeld, 
Magdeburg, Berlin, Breslau, Prague, Augsburg, Frankfort 
on the Mayn, Frankfort on the Oder, Labode and Botzen 
are the chief cities engaged in carrying it on. 



538 



THE PEOPLE OP EUEOPE : 




Germans. 



The population of Germany is calculated to be 42,000,000 
inhabitants. The majority belong to the great Germanic 
tribe, while about six or seven millions to the Sclavonic tribe. 
There is a general national character, which may be drawn 
as follows : — The peculiar turn of the Germans seems to be 
for philosophy ; they are distinguished from all the nations 
of Europe for cool and generally a just judgment, united 
with extreme industry. 

The character of men depends much on the government 
under which they live. That of the Germans has in general 
as little brilliancy in it as the constitution of the empire : 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 539 



they have none of the national pride and patriotism by which 
Britons and Span^iards are distinguished. Their pride and 
patriotic sentiments only extend to that part of Germany in 
which they are born ; to the rest of their countrymen they 
are as strange as to any foreigners. 

Though the character of the Germans be not so brilliant 
as that of other nations, still it is not destitute of its peculiar 
excellencies. The German is the man of the world ; he lives 
under every sky, and conquers every natural obstacle to his 
happiness ; his industry is inexhaustible. Poland, Hungary, 
and Russia, are indebted to German emigrants. Rectitude 
is an almost universal characteristic of the people of this 
country ; nor are the manners of the peasants, and those of 
the inhabitants of the lesser cities, by any means so corrupt 
as those of several neighbouring counties ; it is owing to this, 
that, notwithstanding the great emigrations, the country is 
still so well peopled. Frugality on the side of the protest- 
ants, and frankness and good heartedness on the side of the 
catholics, are true national characteristics. 

The Germans are tall and well made ; the women are, in 
general, well looking, and many of them will rival the beau- 
ties of other countries. Both sexes affect to dress in rich 
clothes, according to the fashions of England or France. 
Many of the principal people wear a great deal of gold and 
silver lace ; the ladies at court do not differ much in their 
dress from those of the same rank in England. In some of 
the courts they appear in furs, richly covered with as many 
diamonds as they can procure. The inhabitants of several 
cities in Germany dress extremely odd, though their appear- 
ance has much improved within these twenty or thirty years ; 
but the artizans and labourers, as in other parts of Europe, 
wear those sort of clothes that are best adapted to their seve- 
ral employments, convenience, or circumstances. 

Industry and application are the most considerable traits 
of the German character. The works which they produce, 
in watch and clock-making, in the arts of turning, sculpture, 
painting, and architecture, are very wonderful. No nation 



540 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE; 



makes greater festivals in honour of marriages, funerals, and 
births. The amusements of the Germans very much resem- 
ble those of the French and English ; to these, however, they 
add the chase of the wild boar, which they prefer to all other 
sports ; they have also bull and bear-baiting. In the winter, 
when the different branches of the Danube are frozen, and 
the earth is covered with snow, the ladies amuse themselves 
in sledges of different forms, resembling tigers, swans, shells, 
&c. The lady is seated, in a habit of velvet, lined with rich 
furs, and ornamented with lace and diamonds, having also a 
bonnet of the same sort. The sledge is fastened to a horse, 
stag, or other animal, which is ornamented with feathers, 
ribbons, and a multitude of little bells. 

"O'er crackling ice, o'er gulphs profound, 
With nimble glide the skaters play ; 
O'er treach'rous pleasure's flow'ry ground 
Thus lightly skim, and haste away." 

As this diversion generally takes place at night, servants 
go before the sledges on horseback, with lighted torches ; an- 
other guides the horse in the sledge from behind. 

The most liberal hospitality and disinterestedness mark the 
character of the Germans. They make an immoderate use 
of coffee, but they drink it very weak. Their diet consists 
chiefly of ham, smoked meats, black bread, potatoes, red 
cabbage, beer, and cheese. They endure, with patience and 
fortitude, hunger and cold, but they cannot support thirst and 
heat ; brandy and beer are more important to them than solid 
food. They almost all chew tobacco. 

The condition of the lower classes of women is very mise- 
rable; it differs but little from slavery; the most laborious 
parts of sowing and gathering in the harvest, and of the other 
departments of rural economy, fall to their share. Habit, 
the example of their mothers, the knowledge . of all their de- 
pendence, so far restrain them that they never murmur under 
the heavy tyranny of the stronger sex. 

Knowledge is more generally diffused in Germany than in 
any other country. The children of the poor enjoy the bene- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 541 



fits of instruction, free of expense ; while there is a regular 
system of education from the primary school to the univer- 
sity. The literary institutions of Germany are numerous and 
celebrated. There are twenty-three universities, all of which 
bear so high a reputation that they attract many students from 
other countries. The public libraries are numerous, large, 
and very valuable. Munich, Vienna, Berlin, Dresden, and 
Gbttingen may be considered as central points of the arts 
and sciences. 

In religion, Catholicism has the most numerous adherents 
in southern Germany, and protestantism in the northern. 
There are about four millions more catholics than protestants. 
The latter generally belong to the evangelical denomination. 
There are about 50,000 Jews in Germany. 

Germany is still a confederacy, though the great powers 
pay but little regard to the wishes of the majority of the 
smaller states. The Germanic confederacy was established 
by an act of the Congress of Vienna on the 8th of June, 
1815, thirty-eight independent states being recognised as its 
component parts, and the Diet of Frankfort on the Mayn 
being regarded as its organ. 

Bavaria ranks as the most important and powerful of the 
smaller states of Germany. She was once the successful 
rival of Austria, and beheld her princes seated on the impe- 
rial throne. Napoleon invested her sovereign with the title 
of king, and augmented his dominions. The king afterward 
joined the allies against the emperor, and though he lost 
some of his territories he received others in compensation. 
Bavaria now forms the middle part of southern Germany, 
separated from Italy by the Tyrol, and consists of two dis- 
tinct territories, situated about forty miles apart, the smallest 
being on the left bank of the Rhine. The total area of the 
kingdom is 29,703 square miles. 

The inhabitants of Bavaria number 4,450,000, more than 
three millions of whom are Roman Catholics; the remainder 
are chiefly protestants and Jews. Agriculture is the chief oc- 
cupation. But numerous breweries, which produce the famous 



542 



THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 




Bavarians. 



Bavarian beer, and factories, mines, and an extensive inland 
trade, give employment to a great body of people. 

The Bavarian, in general, is stout-bodied, muscular, and 
fleshy ; with a round head, a little peaked chin, a larger belly, 
and a pale complexion. Many of them look like caricatures 
of men ; they are heavy and awkward in their carriage, and 
their small eyes are said to betray a great deal of ro- 
guery. The women are very handsome, their skin surpasses 
all the carnation ever used by painters ; the purest lily white 
is softly tinged with purple, as if by the hands of the Graces. 
The complexions of some of the peasant women appear to be 
quite transparent. They are well shaped, and more lively 
and graceful in their gestures than the men. 

The country people are extremely dirty ; their hovels have 
no appearance of habitable dwellings for human beings. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 643 



Cheap as nails are in this country, and although half the 
roofs are frequently torn away by strong winds, yet the rich 
farmers cannot be persuaded to nail their shingles properly 
together. In short, from the court to the smallest cottage, 
indolence is the most predominant part of the Bavarian cha- 
racter. 

This great indolence is contrasted in an extraordinary 
manner with a still higher degree of bigotry. " I happened," 
says the Baron Reisback, "to stroll into a dark, black, coun- 
try beer-house, filled with clouds of tobacco, and on entering 
I was almost stunned with the noise of the drinkers. By de- 
grees, however, my eyes penetrated through the thick vapours, 
when I discovered the priest of the place in the midst of fif- 
teen or twenty drunken fellows. His black coat was as bad 
as the frocks of his flock, and like the rest of them he had 
cards in his left hand, which he struck so forcibly on the. 
dirty tables, that the whole chamber trembled. At first, I 
was shocked at the violent abuse they gave each other, and 
thought they had been quarrelling, but soon found that the 
appellations which shocked me were only modes of friendly 
salutation among them. Every one had drunk his six or 
eight pots of beer, and they desired the landlord to give each 
a dram of brandy, by way, they said, of locking the stomach. 
But now their good humour departed, and preparations were 
made for a fray which at length broke out. At first the 
priest took pains to suppress it ; he swore, he roared as much 
as the rest. Now one seized a pot and threw it at his adversa- 
ry's head ; another clenched his fist ; a third pulled the legs 
from a stool to knock his enemy on the head ; every thing 
seemed to threaten blood and death, when on the ringing of 
a bell for evening prayer, ' Ave Maria ye !' cried the priest, 
and down dropped their arms, they pulled off their bonnets, 
folded their hands, and repeated their Ave Marias. As soon, 
however, as their prayers were over, their former fury re- 
turned with renewed violence ; pots and glasses began to fly. 
I observed the curate creep under the table for security, and 
I withdrew into the landlord's bedchamber." 



544 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



The three universities, at Munich, at Warsburg, and at 
Erlangen, twenty-six gymnasia, nine lycea, nine seminaries, 
nine Latin schools, and five thousand four hundred and two 
common schools, make ample provision for the education of 
the people. 

The government is a limited monarchy, the power of the 
king being checked by two legislative chambers. The court 
patronage, however, is so extensive that the deliberations of 
the legislature can scarcely be considered as independent. 
The liberal use of eight orders of honour secures the king a 
very extensive authority. Munich, the capital of Bavaria, 
is considered one of the finest cities in Germany. It contains 
numerous splendid public buildings. The manners of the in- 
habitants of Munich are such as might be expected from the 
great number of people who depend upon the court, and for the 
most part go idle at its expense. There is much spirit and 
intelligence, as well as much looseness of conduct, among the 
upper circles, while the lower are poor, indolent, and de- 
graded. 

The kingdom of Wurtemberg occupies the greater part of 
the circle of Swabia, being bounded on the east by Bavaria, 
and on the, west by Baden, and having an area of 7551 
square miles. Its territory is traversed by a range of moun- 
tains, two rivers — the Neckar and the Upper Danube — and 
partly by the Black Porest. There are within its limits, 
1,840,392 acres of arable land, 620,480 pasture land, 79,200 
of vineyard, and 1,735,466 of woodland. Agriculture, manu- 
factures, and trade are all extensively and very profitably 
pursued. Grain is the chief export. Cotton and woollen 
stuffs, and cutlery are the chief manufactures. 

The government is a limited monarchy, the sovereign 
power being vested in a king and two legislative chambers. 
Wurtemberg has always been noted for its liberal institutions. 
The sovereign has frequently opposed the arl)itrary designs 
of Austria. Still, the government has many objectionable 
features in common with the other German states. 

Wurtemberg has one university ; and its schools and semi- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 



545 




Inhabitants of Baden. 

naries are said, bj Hassel, to be more numerous tban in any 
other country of the same dimensions. 

The population numbers 1,750,000 persons. The majority 
of them are Lutherans. But there are over 500,000 Catholics 
and 12,000 Jews. The people, generally, are industrious and 
mtelhgent. Those engaged in agriculture are well provided, 
and contented. Those engaged in manufactures in the towns 
are not so happy or prosperous. On a war footing, the regu- 
lar army of Wurtemberg consists of over twenty thousand 
men. 

The kingdom is divided into four circles marked by natural 
boundaries. Stutgard, the capital, contains some handsome 
edifices, and 46,000 thousand inhabitants. 

The grand duchy of Baden consists of the long valley of 
the Rhine, from Basle to Manheim, sloping on all sides fromf 
the Black Forest, having a surface of nearly six thousand 
square miles. The soil in the lower and smaller valleys i^ 



546 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



very fertile, and the richest pasture covers the sides of the 
hills. Grain is produced in abundance, and is exported. The 
vineyards are extensive and enjoy a high reputation. The 
Black Forest is filled with the noblest game. The manufac- 
tures of this teeming country are not very extensive, but they 
are important, and employ about thirty thousand people. 
The transit trade is very valuable. Baden enjoys besides a 
steady, regular trade, Manheim being the chief emporium. 
The duchy is divided into four provinces, or circles. The 
population amounts to 1,390,000 persons. The majority of 
the people are of the catholic persuasion, but the protestants 
form a very strong and influential body. The Jews number 
about twenty-two thousand. Knowledge is generally diffused, 
there being two universities, six lycea, five gymnasia, one 
thousand nine hundred and sixty-five common schools, and 
sixty-five schools of various distinctions. 

The government is a limited monarchy, like that of Wur- 
temberg — the only difference being in the title of the sovereign, 
which in Baden is " the grand duke." On a war footing, the 
regular army consists of ten thousand four hundred and 
twenty-three men. Carlsruhe, the capital of Baden, has 
twenty-five thousand inhabitants. 

The once extensive kingdom of Saxony is now reduced to 
an insignificant state, having a territory five thousand seven 
hundred and ninety-three square miles in area, and a popula- 
tion of 1,800,000 inhabitants. The territory consists of the 
plain of the Elbe, extending along its course for a hundred 
miles from the rocky Erzgebirge. The central plain, being 
well watered, and highly cultivated, is, perhaps the most pro- 
ductive portion of Germany; yet it cannot supply the dense 
mining and manufacturing population with the necessaries of 
life. The forests are extensive. The numerous mines are 
worked with a skill and diligence unequalled in any other 
portion of Europe. But three-fifths of the people are em- 
ployed in manufactures. The staples of linen and woollen 
are considerable, but it is in cottons that this district excels 
all the rest of Germany. The commerce of Saxony is very 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 547 



extensive, not only in its own productions, but, as it contains 
the great mart, Leipsic, in the productions of all Germany. 

Lutlieranism is general in Saxony, Avhere it was first estab- 
lished. It is computed that the catholics number only thirty 
thousand, though the king himself is of that persuasion, and 
has obtained complete equality for those of his own creed. 
The means of education are not equal to those common in 
Germany. There is a university at Leipsic. But, though 
numerous, the schools are said to be poorly managed. How- 
ever, the people are generally intelligent. 

The government is a limited monarchy, like that of Wir- 
temberg. The kingdom is divided into circles or provinces, 
for the sake of a more complete administration. Dresden is 
generally considered one of the most elegant of the German 
cities. Its situation is romantic and beautiful. Its public 
buildings and institutions are on an extensive scale. Popu- 
lation, eighty-six thousand. 

The kingdom of Hanover comprises, with some intervals, 
the whole north-western angle of Germany, from the Elbe to 
the frontier of Holland. The Hartz mountains, extending 
about one hundred miles along its southern border, are rich in 
forests and mines. The rest of the kingdom is generally 
level, but only fertile along the banks of the rivers, and on 
the flat coast of the sea, where artificial mounds protect some 
rich meadows. The country has the Elbe upon the eastern 
boundary, and is traversed by the navigable streams, the 
Ems, the Uleser and its tributaries : so that it has great fa- 
cilities for trade. Agriculture is not pursued with the same 
diligence as in other parts of Germany. It is true, that in 
Gottingen, Hildersheim, Grabenhagen, and some of the 
marshy tracts redeemed from the rivers and the sea, con- 
siderable skill is exerted in cultivation. But Luneburg, 
Hoya, Osnaburg, and other districts, which might be greatly 
improved, are dreary wastes, the inhabitants preferring to 
hire themselves to the Dutch. However, grain is raised in 
sufficient quantities to supply the home demand. "With re- 
spect to live stock, Hanover is distinguished only for its 



548 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



hogs, and Westphalia hams are famous all over the globe. 
The supply of timber is large, and the mines of the Hartz 
are very valuable. Commerce is chiefly engrossed by the 
Hanse towns. Emden, in East Friesland, is almost the only 
part of Hanover which has any foreign trade. The linen 
manufacture is the only important branch of manufacturing 
industry. 

Since the accession of Victoria to the throne of Great 
Britain, Hanover has been an independent kingdom. The 
government is a limited monarchy, the sovereign power being 
vested in a king and two legislative chambers, from which, 
however, the mass of the people are excluded. The policy 
of the government is substantially the same as that of the 
other German sovereignties. Each of the districts into whichf 
Hanover is divided has a distinct local administration. 

The facilities for education are numerous and well managed. 
There is a famous university at Gottingen, and the number 
of common schools reaches 3570. With such means at 
command, the people must be possessed of considerable in- 
telligence. 

To an area of 14,803 square miles, Hanover has a popula- 
tion of 1,790,000 inhabitants. The people are mostly of the 
Lutheran persuasion, though there are many Calvinists, about 
twenty-five thousand Catholics, and a few thousand Jews. 
Hanover, the capital, has forty thousand inhabitants. 

Hesse Cassel, or Electoral Hesse, is a small state situated 
between the Weser and Mayn rivers, surrounded by West- 
phalia, Hanover, the Saxon duchies, and Hesse Darmstadt. 
The area is 4752 square miles. The surface is generally 
mountainous, and in some places sterile. The chief natural 
productions are timber, flax, iron, and freestone. The manu- 
factures consist of linen, hardware, woollen goods, etc. 
The inland trade is considerable. The people enjoy the 
usual German facilities for education. The government is a 
limited monarchy, power being vested in the elector and 
one legislative chamber. Before the reactionary period of 
1848, this was the most liberal government in Germany. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 549 



The overwlielming power of absolutism struck down this bud 
of promise. The population numbers seventj-five thousand 
persons. The majority are Lutherans; but the Calvinists 
and Catholics are numerous. Cassel, on the Fulda, is the 
capital, and, with a population of thirty-three thousand, has 
considerable trade and important manufactures. Honan, 
Marburg, and Fulda, are the only other towns of importance, 
though there are many thriving villages. 

The grand duchy of Hesse, or Hesse Darmstadt, is com- 
posed of two portions, reaching along the Rhine from the 
Prussian to the Bavarian frontier. It is entirely enclosed by 
mountains, but includes a plain of remarkable fertility. 
Wine is the chief production. But tobacco, flax, cattle, cop- 
per, iron, and salt are important objects to which the atten- 
tion of the people are directed. The manufactures consist 
chiefly of linen and woollen goods. Mentz carries on con- 
siderable trade. The means of education are ample. The 
government is similar to that of the grand duchy of Baden. 
To an area of 3259 square miles, the duchy of Hesse has 
845,000 inhabitants. The great mass of these are engaged 
in agriculture, and live much in the condition of the German 
peasantry throughout the confederacy. The majority of the 
people profess the reformed religion. Darmstadt, the capital, 
has thirty-one thousand inhabitants. The landgraviate of 
Hesse, or Hesse Homburg has an area of 128 square miles 
with about twenty-six thousand inhabitants. It consists of 
two distinct territories, separated from each other by Nassau 
and Hesse Darmstadt. The majority of the population con- 
sists of Lutherans, and the remainder of six- thousand Cal- 
vinists and three thousand Catholics. The soil is fertile and 
well cultivated. Manufactures are not extensively pursued. 
The government is a limited monarchy. Meisenheim is the 
principal town. 

The grand duchy of Saxe Weimer takes the lead among 
the smaller states. Its area is 1427 square miles, and its 
population 254,000 inhabitants. The peasantry are miserably 



550 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



poor. Weimar, the capital has only twelve thousand inhabit- 
ants. It is a place of much literary renown. 

Mecklenburg Schwerin is a grand duchy, situated on the 
Baltic sea, between Pomerania and Holstein, and separated 
from Hanover by the Elbe. The surface is generally level, 
and the soil is fertile. All branches of husbandry are, in 
Mecklenburg, managed with consummate skill. The manu- 
factures are rather limited, but the trade and commerce are 
extensive. Grain, butter, cattle, horses, timber, and wool 
are the chief exports. The government is a ^ limited mo- 
narchy. The facilities of education are unsurpassed. The 
area of Mecklenburg Schwerin is 4856 square miles, and its 
population numbers 515,000 inhabitants. The people are 
chiefly of the Lutheran persuasion. Schwerin, the capital, 
on the lake of the same name, has many handsome public 
edifices, and 17,500 inhabitants. Rostork, on the Warnow, 
ab.out ten miles from the Baltic, has 20,500 inhabitants, and 
considerable commerce. Wismar, on the Baltic, sixty-two 
miles south-west of Roetrop, has about twelve thousand in- 
habitants and a constantly increasing commerce. 

The grand duchy of Mecklenburg Strelitz, situated between 
Mecklenburg Schwerin and Prussia, has an area of 1107 
square miles and ninety-six thousand inhabitants. In soil, 
productions, government, and institutions, it agrees with 
Mecklenburg Schwerin. 

The duchy of Holstein is the most northern state of Ger- 
many, on the west side washed by the North Sea, and on the 
east by the Baltic. It has an area of 3333 square miles, 
and about 477,000 inhabitants. A large majority of the 
people are Lutherans. The surface and soil of the country 
is much the same as the neighbouring Mecklenburg. Pre- 
vious to the war with Denmark, in 1848, the duchy was un- 
rivalled in wealth and prosperity. Agricultjire was on a 
high scale of improvement. A beggar was rarely to be found. 
The Danish administration was able, liberal, and beneficial.. 
But the people were instigated to take up a,rms ; and in the 
struggle between the forces of Generals Wrangel and Wit- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 



551 




Greneral AVranarel. 



tengen, the beautiful plains of the duchy were wasted, and a 
once wealthy people were reduced to beggary. It will be a 
considerable time before Holstein recovers from the devasta- 
tions of this unhappy war. The fisheries, the commerce, and 
the manufactures, all formerly important, have been greatly 
reduced. The government remains a limited monarchy, the 
sovereign power being vested in the King of Denmark, as 
Duke of Holstein, and in a provincial assembly. Holstein 
has a fine university and a large number of common schools. 
The chief towns are Gluckstadt, a commercial town on the 



552 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



Elbe, thirty miles below Hamburg, with considerable com- 
merce and a whale fishery, and over six thousand inhabitants ; 
Rendsburg, on the Eider, with ten thousand five hundred in- 
habitants ; Riel, on the bay of the same name, with thirteen 
thousand inhabitants ; and, largest of all, the city of Altona, 
on the Elbe, noted for "its commerce and manufactures, and 
having thirty-two thousand inhabitants. 

The duchy of Lauenburg, which borders on Holstein on 
the north-west, and on the south is separated from Hanover 
by the Elbe, has an area of four hundred four and a half 
square miles, and forty-seven thousand inhabitants. In soil, 
natural productions, agriculture, &c., it resembles Holstein. 
Until 1849, Lauenburg recognised the King of Denmark as 
sovereign, but it now has its separate monarch. Ratzeburg 
is the capital. The towns are small. 

The grand duchy of Oldenburg comprises Oldenburg pro- 
per, the principality of Lubec, and the principality of Bir- 
kenfeldt — three distinct territories, which, together, have an 
area of two thousand four hundred and seventy-one square 
miles, and two hundred and seventy-four thousand and fifty 
inhabitants. Oldenburg proper lies on the North Sea, and 
is surrounded by the kingdom of Hanover. The surface is 
generally level, and the coast, as well as the banks of the 
Weser are sheltered with dikes, to preserve them from inun- 
dation. The soil is, in general, poor, but there are fertile 
tracts. Cattle, grain, flax, hemp, rape seed, and bees are 
raised in considerable quantities. The inland trade is actively 
carried on. The principality of Lubec is situated in the 
neighbourhood of the city of Lubec, and surrounded by the 
territories of Holstein. It consists of a well-watered, undu- 
lated plain, the inhabitants subsisting almost entirely by the 
various branches of husbandry.* Birkenfeldt is situated 
upon the Rhine, in the vicinity of Treves. Its surface is 
mountainous. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in min- 
ing, manufacturing, and cultivating the vine. Most of the 
people of the grand duchy are Lutherans. But the Catholics 
* Ungewitter. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 553 



are numerous in Birkenfeldt. The schools and seminaries are 
numerous. Until the revolutionary period of 1848, the go- 
vernment was an absolute monarchy. It was then limited, 
but, we believe, the states have not been allowed to operate 
against the will of the grand duke. Oldenburg, Jeuer, Eutin, 
and Birkenfeldt are the chief towns. 

The duchy of Brunswick lies half-way between the cities 
of Hanover and Magdeburg, the southern section being en- 
closed by the territory of Hanover, having an area of one 
thousand five hundred and thirty-three square miles, with two 
hundred and seventy thousand inhabitants. The soil is fer- 
tile. The chief productions are corn, flax, hops, timber, 
black cattle, horses, sheep, game, silver, copper, iron, lead, 
and peat. Trade and manufactures are actively and exten- 
sively carried on. The means of education are ample. The 
government is a limited monarchy. The duchy is divided 
into the districts of Brunswick, Wolfenbiittel, Helmstedt, 
Gandersbein, Holzminden, and Blankenburg. Brunswick, the 
capital, is situated on the Ocker river, and has forty thousand 
inhabitants, considerable trade, and very important manufac- 
tures. Wolfenbiittel was formerly the ducal residence, and 
is now noted for its large and splendid library, and its manu- 
factures. Population, nine thousand. Blankenburg, at the 
Lower Hartz, has three thousand five hundred inhabitants. 
Holzminden is noted for its manufactures. 

The grand duchy of Luxemburg forms the southern ex- 
tremity of Germany, being bounded by the Rhenish pro- 
vince of Prussia and by France and Belgium. It has an 
area of one thousand and twelve square miles, and one hun- 
dred and eighty-eight thousand inhabitants. The soil is fer- 
tile and well cultivated. Manufactures are chiefly confined 
to linen, leather, and paper. The grand duke belongs to the 
house of Orange Nassau. The people differ very little from 
the other Germans. Luxemburg, the capital, on the Elbe, 
has twelve thousand inhabitants. 

The duchy of Limburg has an area of eight hundred and 
fifty-two square miles, with one hundred and ninety-eight 



554 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



thousand inhabitants. The duchy is usually considered as a 
Netherlandish province. The inhabitants are for the most 
part Roman Catholics. Rolrmonde, on the Mouse, has five 
thousand inhabitants, who are chiefly engaged in the manu- 
facture of cloth. 

Branches of the house of Saxony, once the ruling family 
in northern Germany, hold a cluster of small principalities 
to the west of Saxony royal. Saxe Coburg Gotha has been 
formed by the union of these two branches, on the extinction 
of that of Gotha. It comprehends a great part of the terri- 
tory of Thuringia, and is rather productive. The city, con- 
taining about fourteen thousand inhabitants, is the channel 
of a considerable trade connected with the fair of Leipsic. 
It is a somewhat learned city, containing a library of sixty 
thousand volumes, with valuable manuscripts. Saxe Coburg 
is a mountainous territory, comprising part of the Thuringian 
forest. It contains good pasturage, and some valuable mines. 
This territory has been raised to distinction by the good for- 
tune of one of its younger members, now King of the Bel- 
gians. Saxe Meiningen Hildburghausen, on the Werra, is a 
little tract, enriched by mines of salt at Salzungen, and by 
some of coal, iron, and cobalt. Its principal towns are Mei- 
ningen and Hildburghausen, with about six thousand inhabit- 
ants each. The little duchy of Saxe Altenburg consists of 
two detached portions, separated from each other by the ter- 
ritories of Saxe Weimar and the Reuss princes. The capital, 
Altenburg, is a considerable town, with about sixteen thou- 
sand inhabitants. 

Nassau is a dukedom, which, by the union of the territo- 
ries held by several branches of the same family" has 
attained to some tolerable magnitude. Situated in the 
southern part of Franconia, forming a hilly country on the 
banks of the Rhine and the Mayn, it produces .those valuable 
wines, Old Hock and Bleschert, which distinguish this part of 
Germany : it does not contain, however, any towns of import- 
ance. Weisbaden, the capital, much visited on account of its 
fifteen warm springs, has a population of thirteen thousand. 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 555 



At Neiderselters, two million bottles are annually filled mth 
the celebrated Seltzer water. Langenschwalbach and Scblan- 
genbad are equally noted for their mineral springs ; and 
Hockheim, Rudesheim, Johannisberg, and Asmannshausen 
for their fine wine. 

The other principalities are all very small. Anhalt, on the 
Elbe, between Saxony and Brandenburg, has its population 
of one hundred and fifty-eight thousand, divided between the 
three branches of Dessau, Bernburg, and Cothen. The 
family is ancient, and has produced some men of eminence. 
Schwartzenburg, a district of Franconia, has one hundred 
and twenty-eight thousand people, divided between the two 
branches of Sondershausen and Rudolstadt, both of great 
antiquity, and deriving more importance from their great 
estates in Bohemia and other parts of the Austrian territory. 
Ruess, in Upper Saxony, has one hundred and nine thousand 
inhabitants, divided between the elder and younger branches. 
Lij)pe Detmold and Lippe Schauenburg are situated on the 
south of Hanover ; the one hilly and wooded, the other flat 
and fertile. A former prince of Lippe Schauenburg made a 
distinguished figure in the service of Portugal. There are 
two princes of Hohenzollern, Sigmaringen, and Hechingen, 
having between them fifty-four thousand five hundred people. 
They form the only petty states in the south of Germany, 
being situated in Swabia, between Baden and Wurtemburg. 
Waldeck Pyrmont, composed of two hilly counties between 
Hesse and Hanover, derives almost its sole importance from 
the mineral baths of Pyrmont, which are among the most 
celebrated in Europe. Though, by the favour of the house 
of Austria, its possessions have been tripled, they do not ex- 
ceed those of a rich English squire. Homburg, the capital, 
is a small town, in a very picturesque situation. The little 
principality of Leichtenstein, a district in the Saxon Erzge- 
birge, has only seven thousand inhabitants ; but the prince, 
as an Austrian nobleman, is one of the most opulent indivi- 
duals in Europe, and his family is distinguished by informa- 
tion and intelligence. The Lilliputian lordship of Kniphau- 



556 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



sen was recognised as an independent stsete by an act of the 
diet, in 1826. It is situated within the territories of the 
duke of Oldenburg. 

The four free cities of Germany, Hamburg, Lubec, Bre- 
men, and Frankfort, form still an interesting feature, neces- 
sary to close the picture of this great country. They are 
the sole remnant of the Hanse towns and imperial cities ; 
illustrious confederacies, which, during the Middle Ages, 
acted a most conspicuous part in the improvement of the Eu- 
ropean system. The members of the Congress of Vienna, 
though little friendly to any thing republican, considered 
these so fully established, and so venerable by antiquity, that 
they sanctioned them as a part of the Germanic body. 

Hamburg is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, about 
eighty-four miles from the sea, and its territory partly in the 
immediate vicinity and partly at the mouth of the Elbe. In- 
cluding the bailiwick of Bergedorf, of which Hamburg and 
Lubec are possessed in common, the total area is one hundred 
and fifty square miles. The population is one hundred and 
sixty-eight thousand. The government is a republic, the 
sovereign power being vested in a senate of twenty-eight 
members, and the council of wealthy citizens. The city con- 
tains one hundred and thirty-seven thousand inhabitants. 
The great body of these are Lutherans. The city is gene- 
rally known to be the chief port of Germany. It has more 
than two hundred vessels engaged in commerce ; and is, be- 
sides, noted for its manufactures and literary institutions. 
The public library is very large ; and the schools are nume- 
rous. Hamburg contains many splendid edifices. In the 
territory are several busy villages. 

Lubec has a territory of one hundred and sixty square 
miles, but only 53,800 inhabitants. The city is situated on 
the Trave, nine miles from the Baltic Sea, and contains a 
population of 25,500, chiefly Lutherans. The government is 
similar to that of Hamburg. The Supreme Tribunal of the 
Four Free Cities sits at Lubec. The commerce is consider- 
able, but it has greatly diminished in consequence of the 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 557 



shallowness of the Trave. The city is well built of stone, has 
some handsome edifices, and presents a better appearance 
than Hamburg. The people are industrious and intelligent. 

Bremen, on the Weser, has a territory of one hundred and 
six and a half square miles, and seventy-seven thousand in- 
habitants. The people are chiefly Calvinists and Lutherans. 
Jews are excluded from the city. The government resembles 
that of Hamburg. The city lies on both sides of the Weser, 
about forty-six miles from the sea, and has fifty-four thou- 
sand inhabitants. Steamships connect it with New York, 
and it has, besides, about two hundred and thirty trading 
vessels. The inland trade is very important, and manufac- 
tures are extensively carried on. The city is well built, and 
is rapidly increasing in size and wealth. The people are 
bustling, enterprising, and generally prosperous. 

Frankfort on the Mayn, about eighteen miles from its 
junction with the Rhine, has forty-two and a half square 
miles of territory, and sixty-eight thousand inhabitants. The 
city has about fifty-eight thousand inhabitants, and carries 
on considerable trade, though its annual fairs have lost their 
importance. Its manufactures and its book trade are very 
valuable. The city is well built, and its population is distin- 
guished for extraordinary enterprise and intelligence. The 
public libraries, various literary institutions, and numerous 
common schools pour out the riches of learning. The govern- 
ment is republican, the sovereign power being vested in a 
senate and legislative body. A majority of the people are 
protestants. 



The kingdom of the Netherlands is commonly, but erro- 
neously, called Holland. The latter name, strictly, includes 
but a province of the state.* The term Netherlands, or 

* Ungewitter. 



558 



THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE 




Dutch. 



Lowlands, was in the Middle Ages applied to the country now 
forming the states of the "Netherlands" and Belgium. 

The kingdom of the Netherlands, proper, lies upon the 
north-western frontier of Germany, being bounded on the 
north by the North Sea. Exclusive of the provinces of 
Luxenburg and Limburg, which, politically, belong to Ger- 
many, the kingdom has an area of 11,832 square miles, and 
about 2,927,000 inhabitants. The climate is moderate", but 
frequently moist. The surface is level, and in general there 
is no variety of scenery. Grass and corn, canals and wind- 
mills, and cleanly towns and villages constantly.meet the eye. 
The more or less marshy soil is fertile to an extraordinary 
degree. In the northern portion of the kingdom, the rearing 
of cattle engages more attention than agriculture. The 
butter and cheese here produced are world-renowned. Be- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 559 



sides husbandry, the chief means of sustenance is commerce, 
which extends to every part of the earth. The manufactures 
are not extensive, but in some provinces, linen and paper are 
made in considerable quantities. 

The government is a limited monarchy, the power being 
vested in a king and two legislative chambers, called General 
States. The facilities for the diffusion of knowledge are 
great and widely ramified. There are three universities — 
at Leyden, Groningen, and Utrecht — three athengea, or 
smaller universities, and about two thousand three hundred 
seminaries and schools. 

In time of war, the kingdom can call to the field about 
seventy-six thousand regulars and eighty thousand schutters, 
or militia. The standing army consists of about forty thou- 
sand men. The navy consists of nine ships of the line, nine- 
teen frigates, thirty-seven sloops-of-war, brigs, &c., fourteen, 
steamers, and eighty-four gun-boats. 

The people of the Netherlands are usually called Dutch. 
The great body of them originally belonged to the great Ger- 
manic tribe, but the Walloons or Flemings, Frisons, and 
Jews are numerous. Calvinism is the prevailing religious 
creed, but all religions are tolerated, and more than one- 
third of the people are catholics. In stature, the Dutch are 
much the same as the English : the women are comparatively 
taller than the men : they are decidedly handsome, and, when 
young, have naturally good complexions, which they might 
preserve to a later period, did they take more exercise in 
the open air, and abandon some injurious customs, such as 
the incessant use of the chauffepied, a box of burning peat, 
which accompanies them everywhere. "Nothing," says Mr. 
Nicholls, "can exceed the cleanliness, the personal propriety, 
and the apparent comfort of the people of Holland. I did 
not see a house or fence out of repair, or a garden that was 
not carefully cultivated. We met no ragged or dirty per- 
sons, nor any drunken man ; neither did I see any indication 
that drunkenness is the vice of any portion of the people. I 
was assured that bastardy was almost unknown ; and although 



560 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



we were, during all hours of the day, much in the public 
thoroughfares, we saw only two beggars, and they, in manner 
and appearance, scarcely came within the designation. The 
Dutch people appear to be strongly attached to their govern- 
ment, and few countries possess a population in which the 
domestic and social duties are discharged with such con- 
stancy. A scrupulous economy, and cautious foresight seem 
to be the characteristic virtues of every class. To spend 
their full annual income is accounted a species of crime. 
The same systematic prudence pervades every part of the 
community, agricultural and commercial ; and thus the Dutch 
people are enabled to bear up against the most formidable 
physical difficulties, and to secure a larger amount of indi- 
vidual comfort than probably exists in any other country." 

The kingdom of the Netherlands is divided into ten pro- 
vinces, two of which comprise the ancient province of Hol- 
land. Amsterdam, on the Amstel River, has 225,000 inha- 
bitants, and is the chief city and emporium of the kingdom. 
The city is intersected by numerous canals, over which there 
are two hundred and ninety bridges. The royal palace is 
the most magnificent of the public edifices. The trade is 
very extensive. The Hague, or Gravenhaag, is the capital 
of the kingdom, and contains sixty-six thousand inhabitants. 
It is a regular and handsome city, situated near the North 
Sea. Leyden, between the Hague and Haarlem, has thirty- 
six thousand inhabitants. Rotterdam, on the Merwe or 
Mouse, is the second city in the kingdom, and contains 
eighty-three thousand inhabitants. Dort, Schredam, Middle- 
burg, Flushing, Utrecht, Amersfort, Arnheim, Nimeguen, 
Zutphen, Zwoll, Campen, Leeuwarden, Groningen, Hertogen- 
bosch, or Bois-le-Duc, Breda, Berg-op-Zoom, Tilbury, and 
Maestricht, are all large and busy cities. 




THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 561 



The kingdom of Belgium is situated between France and 
the kingdom of the Netherlands. The total area is about 
2,945,574 hectares, or eleven thousand four hundred and 
seventeen square miles. The kingdom is divided into seven 
provinces : — Antwerp, in the north ; East and West Flanders 
and Hainault, in the west ; Liege, in the east ; and Namur, 
in the south. The northern part of Belgium is low and level; 
the southern part is mountainous. 

Agriculture, manufactures, and trade are all actively and 
successfully pursued by the Belgians, while the working of 
the iron, copper, and coal mines prove very profitable. All 
kinds of grain, potatoes, and live stock are raised with suc- 
cess. But as Belgium is the most densely peopled country in 
Europe, the means of sustenance are extensively imported. 
Flemish husbandry has been famous for six hundred years. 
Flanders is very thickly peopled, and as the farms are small, 
they are carefully and skilfully cultivated. The soil was 
originally poor. Industry has made it rich. The manufac- 
tures consist chiefly of woollens and cottons, carpets, linen, 
silk, lace, and paper ; though all kinds of manufacture receive 
attention. Wool, in Belgium, is the object of immense in- 
dustry. Woollen stufis are manufactured in every province 
in the kingdom, and great quantities of the raw material are 
imported. The principal ports are Ostend and Antwerp. 
The commerce is still extensive, but not equal to its value 
before the revolution of 1830. All kinds of inland commu- 
nication are found in perfection in Belgium, and the trade is 
therefore considerable. 

The government is a constitutional monarchy, under a dy- 
nasty freely elected by the constituents of the nation. The' 
broadest principles of civil freedom are established by the 
constitution. The press is free. Universal toleration, liberty 
of public religious worship, and the liberty of publishing 

36 



662 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



opinions upon all subjects, is guaranteed. No one can be 
prosecuted, nor have liis house entered, but by authority and 
form of law. The sovereign power is vested in a king and 
two legislative chambers. The members of the chambers re- 
present the nation, not districts nor provinces. The nobility, 
enjoy only a personal title, without constituting a social order. 
The number of voting citizens in Belgium is about fifty thou- 



The kingdom has four universities, a number of athensea, 
two industrial schools, and a considerable number of primary 
schools ; but the voluntary system of instruction is a check 
upon the progress of the people in intelligence. The number 
of workhouses and charitable institutions is very large. The 
great body of the people belong to the Roman Catholic 
church. The army of Belgium is fixed at one hundred and 
ten thousand men — a very expensive establishment. The 
navy is insignificant. 

The population of Belgium numbers 4,350,000 persons, 
chiefly descended from the Walloon and Flemish tribes. The 
Belgians have been successfully subjected to the influence of 
so many different governments — French, Austrian, Spanish, 
Dutch — that they consequently possess no distinctive and 
peculiar national character. The apathy and persevering in- 
dustry of the Dutch is blended with the vivacity and self- 
assurance of the French, without producing an agreeable 
compound. The different provinces exhibit some variety of 
character and manners. On the borders of Holland the 
people are generally similar to the Dutch, and adopt their 
customs, amusements, and dress ; but in the southern districts 
they differ but little from the French in appearance, habits, 
costume, and language. The Belgians have always displayed 
a passionate fondness for social liberty — an impatience of 
control that embroiled them with all their different rulers, 
and involved them in ruinous disasters during many succes- 
sive centuries. Writers of all ages agree in describing the 
Belgians as the most restless, unruly, tumult-loving mortals 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 563 



in existence ; always treating their best rulers worst, while 
the bad overawed them. 

Brussels, the metropolis of the kingdom, is situated on the 
Seine, and exclusive of the suburbs, has a population of 
one hundred and twenty-six thousand inhabitants. It is noted 
for its manufactures, and is one of the first cities of Europe. 
Antwerp, on the Scheldt, has a beautiful harbour, is strongly 
fortified, has a very extensive foreign trade, and eighty thou- 
sand inhabitants. Ghent, on the Scheldt, thirty-four miles 
west of Antwerp, is noted for its remarkable and ancient edi- 
fices, and its manufactures, and has ninety-thousand inhabit- 
ants. Bruges, twenty-eight miles from Ghent, has extensive 
manufactures and forty-five thousand inhabitants. Liege, at 
the junction of the Ourtho and Meuse, has seventy-four thou- 
sand inhabitants, and is famed for its cutlery, fire-arms, iron 
works, and coal mines. Mons, Tournay, Roulers, St. Nicho- 
las, Alost, Dendermonde, Namur, Ypern, and Ostend are 
large and important towns. Belgium is thickly sown with 
towns. 



Spain. 

The kingdom of Spain comprises nearly four-fifths of the 
Pyrenean peninsula, at the south-west extremity of Europe, 
and is separated from France by the Pyrenees. The total 
area is 179,921 square miles. The surface is thoroughly 
mountainous. The Sierra Nevada and the Sierra Morena 
are the chief ranges. The soil exhibits great diversity. The 
central region consists for the most part of arid, unsheltered 
plains, either of sand or gypsum, intersected with lofty moun- 
tains, which reflect with intolerable fierceness the scorching 
heat of summer, and sharpen into more intense keenness the 
intense cold of winter. The lower region of the coast, 
sloping gradually toward the sea, is broken into an alterna- 
tion of mountains and valleys, producing the most agreeable 
variety, and presenting a pleasant contrast to the bleak and 



564 THE PEOPLE OF EUKOPE : 



barren sameness which characterizes the central region. It is 
everywhere fertile, or may he rendered so hy irrigation. . 

The mineral and metallic productions of Spain are rich 
and various. Coal, silver, quicksilver, and lead are the chief. 
The soil is not so generally fertile as has heen represented, 
and agriculture is in a very backward state. Wheat, oats, 
barley, maize, rice, oil, sugar, hemp, flax, sedge, cotton, saf- 
fron, vanilla, silk, wine, grapes, and a great variety of fruits 
are the principal productions. Timber is scarce. Horses 
and sheep are raised in great numbers. 

Though wool and silk are abundant in Spain, manufactures 
are in a backward state. Taxes, monopolies, and the indo- 
lence of the people operate against all attempts at improve- 
ment. But in Catalonia, Biscay, and Valencia, the most in- 
dustrious provinces, several branches of the woollen manu- 
facture are carried on. The anti-commercial policy of the 
government has had a disastrous effect upon the trade of 
Spain, and has driven a large portion of the population into 
the business of smuggling. The contraband trade is quite 
extensive. 

The government is a limited monarchy, the sovereign power 
being vested in a king, or queen, and a cortes consisting of a 
senate and a chamber of deputies. The senators are ap- 
pointed by the sovereign from a triple list, prepared by the 
electors of each province. Each province appoints one de- 
puty for every fifty thousand persons, for the general con- 
gress, and besides, has its cortes for local administration. 
Each town has its corporation, or ayuntamiento. The alcaldes, 
who are annually chosen in the different towns, are wretched 
excuses for judges, and both life and property are very inse- 
cure throughout the country. There is no freedom of speech 
or of the press in Spain. 

The Roman Catholic is the established church, and the 
sovereign is addressed as "his, or her, most Catholic ma- 
jesty." All other religions are tolerated by law. The re- 
cent endeavours of protestant ministers to propagate their 
doctrines, and to circulate the Bible, have met with less ob- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 565 



struction than might have been expected. The clergy is 
wealthy, numeious, and all-powerful. Although a portion of 
the estates belonging to the church have been confiscated, 
their value is still very great. The immense number of reli- 
gious festivals has an injurious effect upon all branches of 
industry. The means of education are entirely under the 
control of the clergy, and the great body of the people are 
consequently ignorant. The chief lesson of the schools is 
submission to whatever the government or the church authori- 
ties see proper to direct. 

In spite of the poverty of the finances, Spain keeps an 
army of nearly one hundred thousand men, ready for emer- 
gencies. The navy is insignificant. The nation is burdened 
with taxes, at the rate of one hundred and twenty reals per 
head, the amount of which goes to the support of the govern- 
ment, the army, the nobility, and the clergy. 

The population numbers about twelve millions inhabitants. 
The wages of farm labourers average about fifteen cents per 
diem, when they board themselves. 

It is believed that over one hundred thousand Spaniards 
are constantly engaged in the contraband trade, making good 
profits, defying the laws, and resisting the revenue oflficers. 
This adventurous life has peculiar attractions for the Span- 
iards. The manufacturing population is in a still worse con- 
dition than the tillers of the soil. The number of producers 
compared with the number of consumers is very small. A 
vast body of pampered idlers lie like an incubus upon the 
nation. 

Spain is divided into twelve provinces, viz,: — New Castile, 
Old Castile, Galicia, Estremadura, Andalusia, Granada, Va- 
lencia, Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre, Guipuscoa, and the 
Balearic isles. Madrid, the capital and chief city, is situ- 
ated on the Manzares, a branch of the Tagus, and contains, 
besides the royal palace, Buen Retire, seventy-seven churches, 
many magnificent buildings and beautiful gardens, and about 
208,000 inhabitants. Seville, the chief city of Andalusia, 
is situated on the Guadalquivir, abounds in beautiful and 



566 



THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 




Spaniards. 



magnificent edifices, and contains ninetj-one thousand in- 
habitants. Cadiz, on the Isle of Leon, contains seventy 
thousand inhabitants, and is the chief port of Spain. Gra- 
nada, the capital of the province of the same name, is situated 
on the Xenil river, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, and 
contains eighty thousand inhabitants, and many highly re- 
markable edifices built by the Moors. Malaga, a maritime 
town, in the same province, famous for its grapes and wine, 
contains fifty-two thousand inhabitants. Saragossa, the 
strongly fortified capital of Aragon, on the Ebro, has a 
thriving commerce, and fifty thousand inhabitants. Barce- 
lona, the fortified capital of Catalonia, and the principal 
manufacturing town in Spain, on the coast of the Mediter- 



568 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



ranean, contains one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. 
Valencia, the capital of the province of the same name, is 
situated near the mouth of the Guadalquivir, and contains 
sixty-six thousand inhabitants, and important factories. Pal- 
ma, the fortified capital of the Balearic Isles, has thirty-four 
thousand inhabitants. Santander, Corunna, St. Jago de Com- 
postello, San Lucas, Ecija, and Jaen, are large towns. Cor- 
dova and Xeres de la Frontera, have each sixty thousand in- 
habitants, and are situated in the fertile and populous province 
of Andalusia. 

Portugal 

Portugal is the most western state of Europe, and occu- 
pies that portion of the peninsula which lies between the 
37th and 42d degrees of north latitude, and the 6th and 10th 
of west longitude, having Spain upon the east and north, and 
the Atlantic ocean on the south and west. The total area is 
36,108 square miles. In natural features, it resembles Spain. 
Wine, olive oil, wheat, barley, oats, hemp, and flax, are the 
chief productions. Agriculture is in a very backward state. 
Indeed, all branches of industry are in the same condition as 
we find them in Spain. Silk, calicos, gold and silver ware, 
and linen, are the chief manufactured articles. The com- 
merce is quite limited, the exports far exceeding the imports. 
Since the days of Cromwell, the English have almost mono- 
polized the trade of the country. Indeed, Portugal may be 
regarded as a province of Great Britain. 

The population numbers 3,500,000 persons, 250,000 of 
whom live in the Azore Isles. The Roman Catholic is the 
established religion, though all others are tolerated. The 
means of education are rather imposing than beneficial. The 
lower orders of the people are generally ignorant, in spite 
of the existence of universities and common schools. 

The government is a limited hereditary monarchy, the 
sovereign power being vested in a king or a queen, and a 
legislative body. The army numbers about eighteen thou- 



570 



THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 




Priest and Peasants. 



sand men ; the navy, once so mighty, is reduced to nothing. 
Still the taxes of the people are heavy, and there is but little 
prospect of their diminution. 

The Spaniards and Portuguese regard each other with a 
deep-rooted national antipathy. 

"Well dotli the Spanish hind the difference know, 
Twixt him and Lusian slave, the lowest of the low." 

" Strip a Spaniard of all his virtues, and J^oumake a good 
Portuguese of him," says the Spanish proverb. "I have 
heard it more truly said," says Dr. Southey, " add hypocrisy 
to a Spaniard's vices, and you have the Portuguese character." 
The two nations differ, perhaps purposely, in many of their 
habits. Almost every man in Spain smokes ; the Portuguese 
never smoke, but most of them take snuff. None of the 
Spaniards will use a wheelbarrow : none of the Portuguese 
will carry a burden : the one says, ' It is fit only for beasts 
to draw carriages ;' the other, that < it is fit only for beasts to 
carry burdens.' " In one respect, however, their tastes are 
identical, bull-fights being quite as popular among the Portu- 
guese as among the Spaniards. Semple's statements, as to 



572 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



the Portuguese character, coincide with those of Du Chatelet. 
" The Portuguese are generally dark-complexioned and thin, 
with black hair, irascible and revengeful in their tempers, and 
eager in their gestures on trivial occasions. Thej are also 
said to be indolent, deceitful, and cowardly; but they are 
temperate in diet, and that may be classed at the head of 
their virtues, if, indeed, they have many more. They have 
no public spirit, and consequently, no national character. 
An Englishman, or a Frenchman, may be distinguished in 
foreign countries by an air and manners peculiar to his na- 
tion ; but any meagre swarthy man may pass for a Portu- 
guese." All classes seem to despise cleanliness ; and Lisbon, 
and the Portuguese towns generally, are certainly entitled to 
the not very enviable distinction, of being about the filthiest 
in Europe. The morals of both sexes are lax in the extreme ; 
and, as it is averred, assassination is a common offence. 
On the whole, we incline to think, that owing to vicious in- 
stitutions, the Portuguese rank about as low in the social 
scale as any people of Christendom. But the fair presump- 
tion is, that under the beneficial influence of the new consti- 
tutional arrangements, the abuses that have depressed and 
degraded the nation will be extirpated ; and that the Portu- 
guese will once more recover their ancient place among Eu- 
ropean nations. 

Portugal is divided into the provinces of Estremadura, 
Beira, Entre Minho e Douro, Traz os Montes, Alemtejo, and 
Algarve. Lisbon, the capital, is in the first of these provinces, 
on the right bank of the Tagus, contains 280,000 inhabitants, 
a remarkable cathedral, a large number of fine public and pri- 
vate buildings, and has a fine harbour and considerable -com- 
merce. But the city is generally ill-built, and the streets are 
very dirty. There are several small towns in the same province. 
Setubathas fifteen thousand inhabitants. Coimbra, the capital 
of Beira, on the Mondega, has considerable inland commerce, 
and fifteen thousand inhabitants. Oporto, the capital of Entre 
Minho e Douro, is situated on the right bank of the Douro, and 
contains eighty thousand inhabitants. Its commerce and manu- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 573 



factures are extensive. The famous "port wine," is the 
chief export. The city contains numerous and handsome 
public buildings. 

France, one of the most powerful of the states of Europe, 
enjoys a commanding situation, between latitude 42° 20' and 
51° 5' north, and longitude 4° 50' west, and 8° 20' east, 
having the English Channel, the Straits of Dover, and the 
North Sea, on the north and north-west ; Belgium, Luxem- 
burg, and the Rhenish provinces of Prussia and Bavaria on 
the north-east ; Baden, Switzerland, and Sardinia, on the 
east ; the Mediterranean and Spain on the south ; and the 
Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic, on the west. Its natural 
lines of separation from other states are the Rhine, the Juras, 
Alps, and Pyrenees. France holds a position to command 
three seas. Inclusive of Corsica, the total area of this state 
is 203,736 square miles. The chief rivers are the Seine, 
Loire, Garonne, and Rhone. The country is well watered. 
Canals and railroads are numerous. 

The soil of France is, in general, very fertile. There are 
large tracts of mountainous, unproductive land ; but the pro- 
ductive soil bears a larger proportion to the extent of country 
than in most other European states. The greatest extent of 
mountainous surface is found in the departments of the 
Alps and Pyrenees, and those of Ari^ge, Cote d'Or, DrOme, 
Doubs, Haute Loire, and Haute Marne. The rich lands are 
chiefly found in Gers, Aisne, Eure-et-Loire, Eure, Marne, 
Nord, Tarn, and Yonne. France has considerable mineral 
and metallic wealth. Coal, salt, plaster of Paris, iron, silver, 
copper, lead, mercury, zinc, tin, and manganese, are the 
principal products of the mines. The forests are extensive, 
and chiefly found in the mountainous districts. The climate 
of France is not excelled by that of any other part of Eu- 
rope. The air is generally pure, and the temperature is 
seldom found in extremes. Around the Gulf of Lyons, the 



574 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



people, and strangers in a greater degree, are exposed to a 
very disagreeable north Avind, called the hise, or circius, which 
creates a feeling of suffocation. 

A great quantity of grain is raised in France, but it is not 
sufficient to supply the home demand. Agriculture is gene- 
rally in a backward state. The vine culture is of the first 
importance. It is estimated that 720,000,000 gallons of 
wine are produced annually, a greater quantity than is pro- 
duced in any other country. The chief of the other vege- 
table productions are madder, fruits, sugar-beets, olives, to- 
bacco, capers, almonds, and truffles. The rearing of live 
stock is in a backward state. 

The manufactures of France are various and very valuable. 
Cotton and woollen goods, silk, fancy articles, hardware, 
jewelry, perfumes, paper, etc., are annually manufactured to 
the amount of at least four hundred thousand dollars. The 
shawls, paper, and cloth, are unrivalled. France ranks next 
to Great Britain as a commercial state. The imports ex- 
ceed the exports by many millions. The commerce extends, 
like that of Great Britain and the United States, to all parts 
of the world. 

The government of France is a military despotism, Louis 
Napoleon Bonaparte being, to all intents and purposes, "the 
state." There is a constitution, which extends the office of 
president over the term of ten years, and creates two legisla- 
tive bodies — a senate, in which the members hold their seats 
for life, and a legislative chamber of five hundred members; 
but the president selects the members of both bodies from 
lists prepared in the departments, and by an extensive system 
of patronage and an overawing army, he holds the entire 
power of the state. 

There is great room for improving and extending the 
means of education in France. All schools, with the excep- 
tion of military, mining, and industrial academies, are under 
the special direction of a Supreme Board, at Paris, called 
the University, which has nothing to do, in itself, with in- 
struction. Just as the twenty-seven tribunals are subjected 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 575 



to the control of tlie Court of Cassation, the twenty-seven 
academies are subjected to the orders of the University, while 
all common schools are under the control of these academies. 
France has no universities like those of Germany. There 
are faculties of science and literature at Paris, Cren, Dijon, 
Grenoble, Montpellier, Strasburg, and pCoulouse. There are 
three hundred and fifty-nine colleges, eleven hundred private 
schools, and one hundred and twenty clerical schools. Out 
of every one thousand French, four hundred can neither read 
nor write. France must be educated before she can appre- 
ciate the blessings of a liberal government. 

There is no established religion in France, all creeds and 
practices being tolerated. The mass of the people are Ro- 
man Catholics. There are about four thousand convents in 
the country. The Protestants number about four millions. It 
should be observed, however, that many of the Catholics do 
not regard the authority of the pope, though they hold the 
Roman creed. 

The population of France is estimated to amount to thirty- 
five millions five hundred thousand. The great mass belong 
to the family of the Romanians. The number of Germans 
is about 1,500,000, who are chiefly found in Alsace and Lor- 
raine. In French Flanders, we find about 180,000 Flemings. 
In Brittany, are about 1,200,000 Breyzards, or descendants 
of the ancient Bretons. In Gascogne, we find 150,000 Bas- 
ques. Near the Pyrenees, the gipsies reach the number 
of 9000.* 

In general the French are inferior in size and strength to 
the English and Germans. Five feet two inches is the mini- 
mum size for regimental recruits. The national character- 
istics are vivacity, impetuosity, politeness, and sociability. 
Cool, patient perseverance is the general want. The revolu- 
tions have swept away the titles of nobility, and rendered the 
distribution of property more equal. Before the great revo- 
lution of 1789, the property of persons dying intestate was 
subject, in different parts of the kingdom, to different rpgula- 

* Ungewitter. 



576 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



tions ; but everywhere, estates could be disposed of by will 
and settled by entail. At the revolution, a law was passed, 
so regulating the distribution of property as to divide the 
land into very insignificant portions. At present, of the en- 
tire population of France, about half belong to the class of 
small proprietors, and about two-thirds are actually engaged 
in the business of agriculture, or depend directly upon it for 
support. The greater number of these agriculturalists are 
miserably poor ; nor do the small proprietors live as well as 
the common labourers in England. They are destitute of 
capital, intelligence, and enterprise. In some departments, 
the process of division and subdivision has not been carried 
so far as in others; but generally, if a property exceed one 
hundred or two hundred acres, and in many instances, if it 
exceed eighty, it is divided, and a portion let to a tenant. 
Leases are usually very short ; and this is another drawback 
to success in agriculture. 

The mining population, which numbers about 155,000, is 
subject to the supervision of officers appointed for the service 
by the government. The hands employed are but poorly 
remunerated. From Dunkirk to St. Valery, the inhabitants 
of the coast derive a considerable part of their subsistence 
from the fisheries for sole, ray, turbot, mackerel, herring, 
&c. The pilchard fishery of Brittany employs a large num- 
ber of fishermen, besides a number of hands in curing and 
barrelling the fish. 

The manufacturing population of France may be estimated 
at between 900,000 and 1,000,000. In 1827, M. Dupin esti- 
mated the average gains of an artisan and his wife, in a town, 
at seven hundred and eighty-three francs a year; and in 
1832, M. de Morogues estimated their united wages at eight 
hundred francs. Since that time the condition of the artisan 
has considerably improved. Rye flour, after supplanting 
buckwheat and oatmeal, has, in its turn, been superseded, in 
many parts, by wheat, as an article of consumption. Meat 
is seldom obtained by the workman. The dress of all classes 
has been much improved by the more general use of woollens, 




General Lamoriciere. 



37 



578 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



cottons, &c., and in most large towns, except those of the 
south, there is now little externally to distinguish the artisans 
and their families from the hourgeoise, or lesser trading 
families. There are considerahle differences in the condition 
and habits of the workpeople in the different manufacturing 
towns ; hut, on the whole they are, physically and morally, 
vastly improved. The instructions of numerous socialist 
leaders and political theorists, and the formation of clubs for 
discussing the measures of government, have tended to en- 
lighten the workmen, though they may cherish impracticable 
notions. The artisans of the Parisian faubourgs lately evinced 
their progress in knowledge and judgment by refusing to par- 
ticipate in, or even to witness, the deluding shows gotten up 
by the despot. President Bonaparte. 

The French are the teachers of the civilized world in 
fashion, manners, and, in a degree, in customs. The Pari- 
sian plates of fashions for costume are eagerly sought by the 
heau monde. But there are few cities in the world, where 
there is so much "polite licentiousness," and "rose-hued 
corruption," as in the French capital. Other cities copy the 
politeness, and leave the licentiousness to the Parisians. The 
people generally are passionately fond of amusements of all 
kinds. The theatres, opera-houses, circuses, race-grounds, 
and ball-rooms are on an extensive scale, and very liberally 
patronized. Music is not so commonly studied as in Ger- 
many, but there are few Frenchmen who have not a love for 
the "concord of sweet sounds." 

France has always been a military power. In 1846, the 
army consisted of 340,000 men and 81,669 horses. Besides 
this, there is a regularly organized national guard of immense 
strength. In 1845, the navy consisted of twenty-three ships- 
of-the-line, thirty frigates, twenty-two sloops-of-war, one 
hundred and fifty-four other vessels, four steam* frigates, and 
forty-one other steam vessels, all in active service, while 
twenty-three ships-of-the-line, twenty frigates, three sloops- 
of-war, and two schooners were in the navy yards, and four 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 579 



steam frigates, and eighteen other steam-vessels still on the 
stocks.* 

France is divided into eighty-six departments, which are 
subdivided into three hundred and sixty-three districts. The 
districts are divided into cantons, which are subdivided into 
communities. The latter number 37,295. Each department 
is governed by a prefect, each district by an under-prefect, 
and each canton and community by a mayor. 

Paris, the capital of France, on the Seine, has a popula- 
tion of over a million persons. In 1846, the number of in- 
habitants was 1,053,097. Subsequent events have consi- 
derably diminished the amount. Paris, besides fourteen sub- 
urbs, has three sections, called ville, cite, and university. 
The ville is situated on the north side of the Seine, the cite 
on the islands of the river, and the university on the south 
side of the Seine. Paris contains about thirty thousand 
houses, many of which are eighty feet in height ; 1150 streets, 
the greater number of which are narrow and dirty; seventy- 
five public palaces, many of which are very highly adorned; 
twenty-two bridges, of which the Pont Neuf is famous for its 
size; forty-one churches, Notre Dame being the most cele- 
brated; twenty-five hospitals, eighty-four barracks, twenty- 
four theatres, and eight palaces, the Tuileries and Palais 
Royal being the chief. The public buildings generally are 
on a magnificent scale. The public gardens are numerous, 
large, and highly adorned. The Jardin des Plantes is the 
most remarkable. There are forty-three public libraries, and 
the principal one contains seven hundred thousand volumes 
and seventy thousand manuscripts. The picture galleries, 
particularly that of the Louvre, are renowned for their ex- 
cellence, as are the literary and scientific institutions. The 
manufactures and the inland trade are very important. 

"Paris," observes Mr. H. Lytton Bulwer, "is divided into 
quarters as well by its manners as its laws, and these difier- 
ent districts difi"er as widely one from the other in the ideas, 
habits, and appearance of their inhabitants, as in the height 

* Ungewitter. 



680 • THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



and size of their buildings, or the width and cleanliness of 
their streets. The Chaussee d'Antin breathes the atmo- 
sphere of the Bourse ; and the Palais Royal is the district of 
bankers, stockbrokers, generals of the empire, and rich 
tradespeople; and it is the quarter fullest of life, most ani- 
mated, most rife with the spirit of progress, change, luxury, 
and elegance. Here are all the new buildings, arcades, and 
shops, and here are given the richest and most splendid balls. 
How different is the quartier St. Germain, the district of the 
long and silent street, of the meagre repast, and the large, 
well-trimmed garden, of the great courtyard, of the broad 
and dark staircase, inhabited by the administrations and the 
old nobility, manifesting no signs of change, no widening of 
streets, no piercing of arcades or passages: it hardly pos- 
sesses a restaurant of note, and has but one unfrequented 
theatre. Farther east, on the same side of the Seine, is the 
quartier of the students, at once poor and popular, inhabited 
by those eloquent and illustrious professors who give to France 
its literary glory. Then there is the Marais, the retreat of 
old-fashioned judges and merchants, where the manners have 
been changed almost as little as the houses by the philosophy 
of the eighteenth century: here are no carriages, no equi- 
pages : all is still and silent ; you are carried back to the cus- 
toms of the grand hotels in the time of Louis XIII. Then 
there is the Faubourg St. Antoine, the residence of those 
immense masses that reigned under Robespierre, and which 
Bonaparte, after Waterloo, refused to summon to his assist- 
ance. And behold the ancient city of Paris surrounded by 
the Seine, and filled by a vast and wretched population; 
there, proud amid the sordid roofs around them, rise the 
splendid towers of Notre Dame, that temple of the twelfth 
century, which, in spite of the Madeleine, has not been sur- 
passed in the nineteenth ; there is the Hotel Dieu, the an- 
tique hospital as old as the time of Philip Augustus, and 
there is the Palais de Justice, where sat the parliament of 
Broussel, remarkable in the chronicle of De Retz!" 

The hotels and restaurants of Paris are numerous ; many 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 681 



of them being splendidly furnished, and having the best ac- 
commodations. The most densely peopled arrondissements 
of Paris are the Second, Eighth, and Twelfth. Of the en- 
tire population of the city, it is supposed that nearly one- 
half are working people, the rest being composed of trades- 
men, professional men, and persons of independent property. 
There are about eighty thousand servants, and nearly the 
same number of paupers. The quantity of crime, profligacy, 
and suicide in this great city is astonishing. The suicides 
in Paris during the last twenty years have averaged two hun- 
dred and thirty. 

Lyons, at the confluence of the Saone and Rhone, in the 
Rhone department, is the second French city in population 
and manufactures, and, including its subm-bs, it has two 
hundred and ten thousand inhabitants. Its forty thousand 
silk looms employ eighty thousand persons, and annually pro- 
duce silks of the value of one hundred million of francs. The 
weaving population is ill lodged, but abundantly supplied with 
food. The wages are very low. The hours of work vary 
from twelve to sixteen. The numerous insurrections of the 
working men evidence their poor condition. The upper and 
middle classes of Lyons are eminently rich and comfort- 
able. The public buildings are numerous and handsome. 
But the greater portion of the city is irregularly built, and 
consists of narrow, winding, and dirty streets, rendered dark 
by the extreme height of the houses. The neighbouring 
country is thickly inhabited. 

Marseilles, the capital of the Rhone-mouths' department, 
is, in some respects, the first commercial city of France. 
The city is on the Mediterranean, between the mouths of the 
Rhone and Toulon. Its inhabitants number one hundred and 
sixty thousand. The city is built around its port, somewhat 
in the shape of a horse-shoe, and is divided into two parts. 
The first, or old town, occupies a rising ground, on the north 
side of the harbour, and is confined and ill-built, with narrow 
streets, dark lanes, and dirty-looking houses. The second, 
or new town, is constructed in the modern style, with regular 



582 



THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 




Havre. 



streets and handsome squares and houses, and stands on the 
south and east side of the port. A magnificent avenue sepa- 
rates the two divisions of the city. Marseilles has numerous 
and handsome public edifices, but none which merit particu- 
lar notice. The commerce is very extensive, and constantly 
increasing. Nine-tenths of the trade of France with the 
countries bordering on the Mediterranean centres in this city. 
The manufactures are numerous and important. The arti- 
sans form a large and active class. There are few capital- 
ists in Marseilles. As soon as men realize a competence 
they retire, as is the custom in Paris. The houses and modes 
of living resemble those of the capital. 

Rouen, the ancient capital of Normandy, is situated on 
the Seine, sixty-nine miles from Paris. It has some hand- 
some public buildings, considerable commerce, numerous and 
valuable manufactures of cotton, woollen, silk, etc., and con- 
tains one hundred thousand inhabitants. Nantes is the chief 
town on the Loire, and carries on a very considerable foreign 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 583 



and inland trade. The inhabitants number ninety thousand. 
Toulouse, on the Garonne, has many remarkable ancient 
buildings, numerous manufactures, and eighty thousand in- 
habitants. Bordeaux, on the left bank of the Garonne, is 
the emporium of the south-west provinces, and the chief seat 
of the wine trade. The city is handsomely built, and con- 
tains one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants. About 
twenty-five thousand tuns of wine are now exported from 
Bordeaux. The citizens of Bordeaux have always been dis- 
tinguished for their attachment to royalty, and have made 
many sacrifices to benefit the French monarchs. Lille and 
Strasbourg are large, busy, and handsome cities. France 
has a number of provincial capitals, each with over thirty 
thousand inhabitants. Havre, the port of Paris, has an ex;- 
tensive commerce, and thirty thousand inhabitants. Ajaccio, 
the chief town of Corsica, has ten thousand inhabitants. 
The people of Corsica resemble the Italians in appearance, 
manners, customs, and traditions. 



^f)e ^nitetr l^ingtrom of Q^xmt ISritain antr 
Srelantr. 

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland com- 
prises two large islands, with several groups of smaller ones, 
lying at the north-western end of Europe, and separated from 
the continent by the Straits of Dover. The total area is 
117,921 square miles, with a population of 28,500,000 per- 
sons. The largest of the two islands embraces England, 
Scotland, and Wales. The smaller island is Ireland. 

The government is a limited monarchy, — the power being 
vested in a Sovereign, a House of Lords, and a House of 
Commons. The Protestant Episcopal Church is established 
in England, but all creeds are tolerated. In Scotland the 
Presbyterian church is established. In Ireland four-fifths of 
the people are Roman Catholics. 

The nation is divided into three classes — the nobility, 



584 



THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 




English Students. 

gentry, and commonalty. The first comprises dukes, mar- 
quises, earls, viscounts, and barons ; the second, all who are 
distinguished for wealth, education, talents, or office; and the 
third, tradesmen, artificers, and labourers. 

The surface of Great Britain is diversified. Wales is 
mountainous; England beautifully undulated; Scotland is 
divided into highlands and lowlands ; Ireland is generally 
level and boggy, but has mountains in the south-west. The 
soil is in general fertile. The climate is healthful, though 
moist in England and Ireland, and cold in Scotland. The 
chief agricultural products are wheat, barley, oats, hops, flax, 
and potatoes. The latter furnish the chief food of the poor. 
Great quantities of cattle are reared throughout th'e islands. 
The mines of Cornwall, Wales, and Anglesea, yield coal, 
iron, lead, tin, and silver. England is the first manufac- 
turing country in the world. The cotton, woollen, hardware, 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. ' 585 



earthenware, silk, and leather manufactures give employ- 
ment to about two million persons. Scotland and Ireland 
are also important manufacturing countries. The commerce 
is superior to that of any other nation and extends to all 
quarters of the world. Numerous rivers, canals, and rail- 
roads afford ample means for inland communication. 

The facilities for the diffusion of knowledge are eight uni- 
versities — three in England, one in Ireland, and four in Scot- 
land — numerous seminaries, and an extensive system of com- 
mon schools. But the schools of Scotland alone can be 
compared, in management and eflBciency, with those of Ger- 
many. 

The army consists of about one hundred and twenty-two 
thousand men, thirty thousand being kept in India. In 1845, 
the navy numbered six hundred and eighty vessels, one hun- 
dred and twenty-five of which were steamers, and ninety-nine 
ships-of-the-line. Since that time many large steamers have 
been constructed. 

England and Wales have a population of 17,000,000, the 
principality having but 1,000,000 of that number. England 
proper contains forty counties, or shires ; Middlesex, which 
contains London, being the most populous. The agricultural 
population is, in general, better conditioned than in most of 
the continental states. It is true, the nobility have immense 
estates, and they are more anxious to make money out of 
them than to reward the labourer or improve the circumstances 
of their tenantry; but the system of letting land and the 
methods of cultivating it, are so much superior to those pre- 
valent on the continent, that the agriculturists may be said 
to be, comparatively, well provided. The manufacturing 
population may be said to be poorly paid, and, in general, 
badly conditioned. In all the manufacturing towns, there is 
a vast amount of pauperism and degradation. Men, women, 
and children are condemned to toil from early morn till night 
in the factories, for sums which barely furnish them with de- 
cent lodging and good food. The miners are still more badly 
conditioned. No portion of the continent can furnish such 



686 



THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE 



■x •< r,, 




English Soldiers and Peasants. 



a jaded and miserable class of beings. The trading popula- 
tion is thriving, well provided, and contented. The clergy, 
nobility, and gentry are highly educated and polished in their 
manners. The characteristics of the English people are 
steadiness, perseverance, heartiness, cool observation, and a 
considerable amount of pride. There are few ways in which 
national character and habits are more truthfully displayed 
than in popular sports and amusements. Eox-hunting is the 
chief of the out-door sports of the country gentlemen of 
England. Hare-hunting, fishing, and steeple-chases are also 
much practised. Boat-racing, horse-racing, boxing, wrestling, 
and cricket are favourite sports with all. 

London, the metropolis of Great Britain, is situated on 
both sides of the Thames, about forty-five miles above the 
river's mouth. The site on the north side is high and dry, 
but, on the south, it is so low as to be under the level of the 
highest tides, though by a system of drainage, it is kept free 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 587 



from the water. The inhabitants number about 2,500,000. 
The number of houses is estimated at three hundred thousand, 
covering about seventeen square miles. The West End of 
London is the centre of fashion, and besides being adorned 
by many magnificent residences, has four large parks, which 
are well styled the "lungs" of the city. The centre of the 
city is the seat of an extensive commerce, and is full of bus- 
tle. Westminster contains the royal palaces, the houses of 
parliament, the law .courts, most of the public offices, and the 
town residences of nearly all the nobility and aristocracy. 
There are seven handsome bridges across the Thames. The 
tunnel under the river is one of the most remarkable works 
of the age. The churches, the palaces, and the public edi- 
fices of all kinds, are remarkable for grandeur and beauty. 
St. Paul's Cathedral is considered as second to St. Peter's at 
Rome alone. The theatres and opera houses, the chief of 
which are Covent Garden and Drury Lane, are large and 
elegant. The hotels, cofiee-houses, and club-rooms are nume- 
rous and generally well supplied and sustained ; but they are 
not equal to those of Paris. In spite of the provision of 
poorhouses and of the exertion of numerous societies, beg- 
gars swarm in London. The tradespeople are generally 
better fed, clothed, and lodged than the same class in conti- 
nental cities. Many of the business men of London reside 
in the adjacent country. 

Liverpool, a city with about three hundred thousand inha- 
bitants, and twenty-five thousand houses, on the Mersey, is 
next to London in commerce, the great depot of the trade 
with America and Ireland, and noted for the most costly 
docks in the world. There are many splendid public edifices 
in this city, and its population is very active and enterprising. 
Manchester, on the Irwell, is the great centre of the cotton 
manufacture, and has three hundred and ten thousand inha- 
bitants. Birmingham, between Liverpool and London, is the 
great centre of the manufacture of hardware, including fire- 
arms, steam-engines, locks, screws, buttons, and such a va- 
riety of small articles that it has been styled the " toy-shop" 



588 THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE: 



of Europe. Bristol, on the Severn, has one hundred and 
twenty thousand inhabitants, and is the third commercial 
town in England. Ashton-under-Lyne has one hundred and 
thirty thousand five hundred inhabitants, and is noted for its 
cotton manufactures. Sheffield, noted for its cutlery, has 
eighty-five thousand inhabitants. Stockport, with numerous 
manufactures, has eighty-six thousand inhabitants. Ports- 
mouth and Plymouth are great naval stations, and large and 
handsome cities. Leeds, famous for its manufactures of cloth 
and other woollen goods, has one hundred and seventy thou- 
sand inhabitants. Bolton, with cotton manufactures, has 
ninety-eight thousand inhabitants. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is 
famous for its coal-pits, various manufactures, and the whale- 
fishery, and has seventy-two thousand inhabitants. England 
contains a number of cities, each having a population of over 
thirty thousand inhabitants, and a great number of small 
towns. 

The principality of Wales has an area of seven thousand 
two hundred and sixty-three square miles, and one million of 
inhabitants. The Welsh are the descendants of the ancient 
Britons. They have a language different from the English, 
and excel in manufacturing flannel. Iron, lead, copper, and 
coal abound. Wales is divided into twelve counties. Swan- 
sea, at the mouth of the Tawey, is the most important com- 
mercial town and watering-place, and has forty thousand in- 
habitants. There are a number of other considerable towns. 
The Welsh are generally hardy, industrious, brave, and per- 
severing. 

Scotland comprises the northern half of the great eastern 
island, having an area of thirty-one thousand two hundred 
and sixty-eight square miles, and a population of two million 
eight hundred and forty thousand inhabitants. The Gram- 
pian Hills divide the country into the Highlands and the 
Lowlands. Politically, Scotland is divided into thirty-two 
shires, or counties, inclusive of numerous islands. Of the 
19,000,000 acres of land in the country, not more than 
6,000,000 are arable. The general characteristics of the 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 



589 




Highlanders. 



surface are sterility and ruggedness. The Highlands consist 
chiefly of mountains, moors, and morasses. The Lowlands 
are rugged, but embrace a considerable quantity of fertile 
land. The valleys are well cultivated. The loclis, or lakes, 
are numerous and distinguished for picturesque scenery. 
Grazing receives more attention in Scotland than agriculture. 
The cod and herring fishery upon the coast is very valuable, 
and employs a great number of persons. The manufactures 
of Scotland are second only to those of England. The com- 
merce is extensive and important. The inhabitants of the 
Lowlands are principally of Saxon, while those of the High- 



590 THE PEOPLE OP EUROPE: 



lands are almost entirely of Celtic origin. The national 
characteristics are strength and steadiness of purpose, in- 
dustry, a very great respect for self, shrewdness, and hospi- 
tality. Landed property in Scotland is in fewer hands than 
in England, there being only about eight thousand proprie- 
tors in the country. The greater proportion of the land is 
distributed into large estates, which are held in entail. Rents 
are higher than in England. But the comfort and well-being 
of the agricultural labourers, and the wealth of the farmers, 
has increased with the rents of the landlords. The common 
school system renders the body of the people very intelligent. 
They are generally Presbyterians. 

Edinburgh, the metropolis of Scotland, is situated near 
the Frith of Forth, in Mid Lothian. It contains thirteen 
thousand houses and one hundred and ninety thousand inha- 
bitants. The new town, on the north, is finely laid out, 
and beautifully built. Edinburgh has but few manufactures, 
but it has long been famous for its literary and scientific in- 
stitutions. Glasgow, on the Clyde, has two hundred and 
eighty thousand inhabitants, and is the largest and most 
bustling city in Scotland. Its commerce and manufactures 
are both very extensive. The cotton manufactures are par- 
ticularly distinguished. The city is generally well built and 
contains some fine public edifices. Aberdeen, at the mouth 
of the Dee, has seventy thousand inhabitants, and is noted 
for its university, and for its ship building. Dundee has 
sixty-four thousand inhabitants, and is noted for its manufac- 
tures. The Hebrides, or Western Islands, are between two 
and three hundred in number, with a total population of 
ninety thousand inhabitants, who are mostly Roman Catholics. 

Ireland has an area of 28,095 square miles, and a popula- 
tion of 8,600,000 inhabitants. The island is divided into 
four provinces — Leinster, Ulster, Connaught, and Munsterj 
which are subdivided into thirty-two counties. The bulk of 
the nation is of Celtic origin. It may be said of the Irish, 
that they are ardent in their afiection, credulous, vain, fond 
to excess of flattery, irascible, impulsive, and usually in ex- 



THEIR CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 591 



tremes. Though their bravery is unquestionable, they lack 
the steady determination of the English and Scotch. They 
are eminently witty, humorous, sociable, and hospitable. 
Their light-hearted and cheerful disposition may be regarded 
as one cause of their lack of progress. Contentment of mind 
is the enemy of improvement. Four-fifths of the nation are 
Roman Catholics, and the clergy have great influence over 
the people. The majority of the other fifth are Presbyte- 
rians. In the north-east division of the island, the people 
are generally better lodged, clothed, and fed than in the 
others ; the wages of labour are higher, and the land is 
better cultivated. In the southern districts there is a great 
amount of want and misery. The dense population suifers 
constantly from high rents, low wages, and the evils of ab- 
senteeism. Potatoes are the chief food of the agricultural 
population ; when these fail, as is frequently the case, the 
horrors of famine visit the country. At present, many pro- 
prietors are making determined and persevering eff"orts to 
substitute other kinds of food, and to improve the condition 
of the country people. Education is much neglected in 
Ireland. There is a university at Dublin, and there are 
numerous schools throughout the island; but the system 
does not reach the mass of the labouring people, and they 
are generally ignorant. Such has been the amount of emigra- 
tion from this beautiful, but unfortunate island, that whole 
districts have been depopulated; and in spite of the recent 
laudable exertions of proprietors, it is probable that this tide 
of emigration will continue to flow on. 

Dublin, the capital of Ireland, is situated on both sides 
and at the mouth of the Lifiey, in the province of Leinster. 
The inhabitants number 310,000. The city contains nume- 
rous and beautiful public edifices, a university, six monas- 
teries, seven nunneries, important manufactures, and an exten- 
sive commerce. Though in general a handsome city, Dublin 
contains several ill-built and dingy sections, and beggars are 
exceedingly numerous in its streets. Perhaps no other city, 
except London, presents so many scenes of misery. Cork, 



692 



THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. 





Irish Beggars. 

tte second city in Ireland in population, is situated upon 
tlie coast of Munster. It has 130,000 inhabitants, a fine 
harbour, and is the chief emporium of the south of Ireland. 
The cove is strongly fortified. Limerick has 70,000 inha- 
bitants. 



THE END. 



SXEBEOIYPED BT L. JOHNSON i CO. 
PHIIJJ)ElPHIi. 



NEW YORK, N. Y. 



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